The Manic Mechanic

The other day I was sitting in the waiting room of my physical therapist. For some reason I mixed up the time, and arrived about 45 minutes early. No biggie. There was a Car and Driver magazine on the table to keep me company. Then there was a baby crying, coming from one of the areas. Great. Not tool long afterward, a woman came out, carrying the baby in a bassinet/car seat thing. I figured it would be time for some silence. She then looked at me and said "I know you", to which I said, "You do?" "Yep, you're Phil. I used to live up the street from you." There was this vague familiarity, but I could not place a name to the face. She said her name is Myra. It was then a huge OMG moment with all the hugs and howareyas. The kicker is, I had not seen Myra since before high school. We were friends back then, since we had gone to elementary and middle school together and rode the same bus. Her family moved a short distance but that put her in a different high school.

I was completely floored that she recognized me. I said that I had less gray in the beard back then. And lots more hair. Well, okay, one was a lie. Still, I don't look very much like I did as a kid for the most part. Some folk do have that uncanny knack for faces and names, something that eludes me. As my brain dusted off and fired up some decades-old memory banks, I recognized her as well (despite the time that passed), and we had a good time talking. She is now a grandmother, living only a short distance from where I used to live. She had married a man that also went to the same schools as she did, he was the one who was at the place having therapy done for a really messed up hand and arm. We said our goodbyes and I had one of those incredulous grins that turn up in such circumstances which lasted me for the rest of the day.

Here was a perfect demonstration of "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Despite all the years, all the moving, etc, two people who have not seen each other in nearly 35 years will cross paths and will reconnect, even for an instant. Life is cool like that sometimes.

My best friend had been working along with his siblings (and a bit of help from me) to get his parent's house ready for sale. Today, it went on the market. I got a text message from him tonight saying that the sign is out front and everything. His parents bought the house new in 1960 or so, and it's been very well maintained throughout the years. It never had much of anything in the way of upgrades either, most of the appliances and interior features are original. However, everything looked practically new. His parents treated me like family, I spent countless hours wrenching on cars, playing guitar and in general hanging out with John and his parents even after he had moved out after getting married. They were like a second family to me.

Hearing that the sign went up today made me think back on those 36+ years I have known them, and the house which was always the same, a kind of memory reference point and place of constant comfort. It's soon to be gone, taken over hopefully by a family that will enjoy the house as the first and only other owners had. And hopefully they keep it mostly as is.

I can't help but feel sad. Here is another piece of my youth that is going away. Another constant that is no longer. My childhood homes are completely gone. I've lost lots of friends and loved ones over the years. And, of course, I no longer have Mom. I can't help but feel 'shoved' further and further into the future, an unknown, while my past slowly disintegrates. Such is life, I guess, and not necessarily a bad thing. But, it still hurts, with every piece of the past being essentially chopped away, in varying sizes.

Today, I learned the Farrah Fawcett is gravely ill as well. I had that famous poster as a teen, and loved watching Charlie's Angels. I cried a bit when I read the story. And, I felt one more presence of my past is soon to disappear.

Life is not always fair.