Forgotten Friends

Facebook is a wonderful invention. Thanks to that networking site I am connected with 320 friends and family, many of whom I haven't seen in years, if not decades. It keeps me up-to-date on their relationship statuses, birthdays, and any new developments in their lives. But today it got me thinking a bit about forgotten friends.

There are friends of mine that I will never find on Facebook because I've forgotten more about them than I can remember. These are people that at one time or another were my good friends. I can tell all sorts of stories about about the river rafting, camping, and road trips we went on. I even have pictures of many of them, but I'm missing the most vital piece of information.......their names.

Here's a few of the more memorable amongst the forgotten friends:

• CTR Tattoo boy - The only person I've ever met to have a CTR tattoo on his stomach. Besides throwing me an awesome 21st birthday party (which included freakshow entertainment), we used to talk for hours upon hours about......who knows what. No seriously, I don't remember. But we did have a lot of fun doing silly things together like catching frogs at the church camp-out.


• Donalee - we used to commiserate over the curse of curly hair and our frustration with guys. When she got engaged I went to all her wedding showers and her wedding reception, but I can't remember her maiden name, let alone her married one.


• Red-haired Crush - I was 18. He was 24. He was my crush, and I was his trusty side-kick (much to my chagrin). Regardless, we had a lot of fun together. I seem to recall our leaving a toilet on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night. I wonder if that was legal? Anyway I can't tell you his name, but I know he that majored in Park & Recreation.


• The Misogynist - This self-proclaimed hater of women who became my most trusted counselor. We would talk together at length about our dating conundrums. Because of this, I had the privilege of being privy to how his now wife managed to melt his stone-cold heart simply by being herself.

I really wish I could contact these forgotten friends. I want to know what happened in their lives. Are they living in the states or abroad? Did they marry? Did they have kids? What are their careers? In short, I may not remember their names, but I still count them as my friend. I just hope that someday I'll bump into them on the subway or at the grocery store, and perhaps it won't be too awkward when I ask them to remind me of their name.