lost in time

Once again I was reminded of time. First I saw this photograph of a classmate. It was on Facebook and I had to comment that she looked exactly as I remembered her. That's because I haven't seen her since those days. For me that would be 1971 so yes, that is the girl I remembered. It was a very pleasant thing, a comfort of sorts. For just a moment I was back in time, walking the halls of the school. In my mind a flood of faces went by, I wondered how many would remember my face? I'm certain that my friends would, but what of the others, those we called classmates? A good number of them were nothing more than acquaintances. Yes, yes, we were classmates but that doesn't mean we actually knew each other. Many were known only by reputation or their family name and all that carried. Older and younger siblings played into that dynamic as well. My circle of friends was quite small. I wasn't a part of the popular crowd, the cool kids. I was just there. 

 Since I joined Facebook I have gotten to see photographs of a good number of those folks. It is always a surprise to see the changes. I'm certain many are surprised when they see mine as well. I know, sometimes I am surprised myself when looking in the mirror! It's just that if you haven't seen the person in almost fifty years it can be a surprise. Strange how some are immediately recognizable and others are not. Now this lady whose picture I just saw was immediately recognizable to me. I could put a name to that face. That's what I talking about. Say you had a yearbook from your high school and the names weren't there, how many could you fill in? Wouldn't it be an interesting experiment? I have some pictures from my Navy days and admit there are some faces in those that I can no longer name. I was in their company, that's obvious enough, but yet I can't remember. Why? I'm guessing that person just didn't leave an impression. They left no memory. Was it their fault? That doesn't seem fair. What makes a person memorable? 

 Today is the birthday of  someone I went to school with. This person was also in my circle of friends. I knew him well. I knew him as Robert. He recently appeared on Facebook, at least on my pages, and I hadn't seen him since 1971 either. He looked the same, a little heavier, older certainly. Still I would have recognized him as Robert. But today, apparently he goes by the name Bob. Nothing unusual about that is there? Roberts are often called Bob for reasons I don't know. Like Charles being Chuck or Elizabeth being either Liz or Beth. But, it came as a bit of a surprise to me. As I said, I know Robert. Now I'm wondering if I know Bob. Today when I posted my birthday wish to him, I posted Happy Birthday to Robert. I wonder if he will notice. Personally I went from Benny, what I was called throughout my school years, to Ben. That's the name I am known by today. My real name, birth name or whatever you want to call it, is Austin. The only time I can recall that name being used was in school at the start of a new school year with a teacher that didn't know me. Then they would call , Austin Reichart. I would correct them later as I really didn't want anyone to know that name. You know, strangely, even some of my closest friends didn't know that. I guess they weren't paying attention as much as I thought. 

 Unfortunately my high school yearbook has been lost. I can't try that experiment. I did get a picture from my Mom that was taken when I was in the sixth grade. Mom held onto it all these years. It has the year, the grade, and the teachers name on it, but no other names. I had difficulty remembering who was who. I posted it on Facebook and with help all the names were rediscovered. I recorded them on the back. I excused my lack of knowledge on time. Sixth grade was a long time ago. Still there were faces that jumped out at me, immediately remembered for various reasons. Ah time can sneak up on you. Time can leave others behind. I guess what I'm asking myself this morning is, How long remembered. How long will I be remembered by others? How many have already forgotten me? Eventually the majority of us will be lost in time.