I heard from one of my best friends from back in the day at CBC or Calvary Baptist Church. Debbie J. was very nice, smart, good looking and was really fun to hang out with. We went to different schools in the area but spent most of our time together at church.
Really glad to hear from her although I hate it had to happen on FB! Hope to add more to the old friends count. So far to date, 2.
Today I read where we lost two great singers that were from my home town, Meridian MS. Al Wilson and Paul Davis. I did not know the Wilson’s but I have enjoyed his music.
Paul’s parents lived on the same street as we did and Paul lived with them for a time and though we were not friends we did at times speak to each other as neighbors through the years.
I always loved his songs but wasn’t seeing him enough on the charts and was not sure he would be a continued success. He survived a shooting in Nashville on July 30, 1986 and I’m not sure he ever fully recovered. Here is a link to his MySpace page – www.myspace.com/pauldavis2006
I enjoyed talking to him about his music as a kid and hate to see that he is gone.
It’s been a while since I last posted in this category. I just received a member update for someone I’ve been trying to reach from school days. Her name is Jere (Sissy) R. The update came from Reunion.com which I have a free membership. I just don’t feel like paying for something I rarely use. Same goes for my classmates.com account.
Anyway Sissy and I had advanced art class together and I really enjoyed her company. Trying to find as many school friends as I can is probably easier if I actually tried. So far I’ve been rather lazy like I am with most things. Reunion.com doesn’t allow you to contact the members unless you pay. I searched classmates.com again and found who I hope is Sissy. Thankfully classmates.com has an option to send the members a note. We’ll see how it turns out.
Our old friends Tony and Edie stopped by last weekend and we had such a good time meeting their kids all grown-up and talking about the past. Their dog and our dog trying to get along, although Dodger just wasn’t capable so we had to place him behind closed doors.
This is the reason I want to try and get in touch with as many friends as I can. I’m not doing a very good job of looking myself.
Back in the day, the military days that is, I was fortunate enough to have a room-mate that I got along with. I had experienced some odd room-mates before. His name was “Buck”. Anthony Buchanan to be exact, but he is going by Tony Buchanan. I had returned from Turkey to process out of the Air Force. Buck had come to our squadron from Italy I believe, while I was TDY. I didn’t have much in the way of things I owned in my room but Buck brought with him an awesome stereo system. I knew I’d like him.
When I returned from Turkey, Buck was TDY or training I think. I’m terrible at remembering somethings. In Oct of 86′ Buck invited me to the Harvest Festival for those our age at First Baptist Biloxi. Little did I know I would meet my wife that night. I went and had a good time. I usually would go home to Clinton on weekends to go to church, but I found the people I met at FBC to be enjoyable to be around and started attending FBC.
Buck was engaged to be married when I met him I believe. Her name was Edie. She happened to be room-mates with my wife. We all grew to be good friends even spending time together after we separated from the military. As some friendships do, we grew apart over time knowing some things about them but not keeping in touch. Raising kids can cause you to do this. I say all this to get to the point for the post. It turns out that my wife was contacted by Buck and Edie’s daughter, Kristen via Facebook (which I loathe).
My wife just informed me that the whole family, Buck, Edie, Kristen and Josh will be stopping by to see us and spend the night in a couple of weeks. Wow, I’m wondering how long it has been since I last saw either of them. I think we were in Atlanta at the time. My wife will surely tell me my recollection of the time is wrong, as I usually am. Edie and her sister Karen where passing through and stopped with Kristen to see our Son. Kristen was 1 I think. Anyway that was 1990.
Long time. I’m looking forward to seeing them now and spend some time catching up.
In keeping with my desire to find old friends from my childhood, I am also searching for school friends. I’ve been looking over the classmates.com and reunion.com sites just to see who I remember and if it is possible (without paying for it) to actually try and keep in touch. I may end up paying for a full access account if I find I really want to reach them.
I did find one friend I have tried to find for some time now even before my desire to keep in touch. I just emailed her via one of those sites in hopes that she keeps up with it or at least has notifications of when someone sends her an email. That’s how I also found my friend Lisa H. Actually she found me. I added myself as a free member a long whileback and she contacted me.
This all stemmed from my 10 yr class reunion which I attended and enjoyed somewhat. It turned out to be a BYOWhatever so it wasn’t very entertaining. I did see many old faces and got to speak to several friends. Johnny M. was someone I had seen right after high school while in the military. We saw each other at the base he was stationed at while I was TDY there. He was at the reunion and gave me his business card from his martial arts company. I need to find that card since I’m sure I still have it and can contact him as well.
This has actually been enjoyable trying to reach folks and hopefully setup a date/time to meet one day (outside of a class reunion).
I’ve also contacted a good friend I grew up with in Meridian, Lisa R. (now H.). I mentioned to her that I would like to get together with those of us that used to spend time together back in our childhood and youth. She actually knows the where-abouts of several of our friends and together we might be able to setup a date/time for all of us to meet. I look forward to further updates.
My first step in finding my friends was to contact my best friend first. We’ve kept in touch over many years, but the last time we spoke was 12 years ago. I called Bobby F. last night and we talked and remembered things about each other’s family from years gone by. He works 7 days a week and has very little time for himself.
I plan to keep more in touch with him from now on. I just have to get him back on the Internet. Lucky for him, I provide Internet access for a living. 
As I look back on my childhood, I was never much for socializing even with my friends. Outside of church I only spent time with a friend or two and my family. We lived with my grand-parents which I really enjoyed. I’m fortunate to live near my mother and father, sisters and my grand-mother.
My best friend growing up, Bobby F., still lives in our hometown today and I’ve seen him a time or two in the past. My point is that I wish I spent more time with good friends. Besides Bobby, I spent more time with my church friends than anyone else. We traveled out of state together, we had parties and church events we always went to. Some went to other local schools and we enjoyed time together at rival football games.
I think of this now as my children are growing up and having the same experience as I did. My little girl is a “social butterfly” and would soar away if I let her. My son is a “home-body” and really only spends time with his church friends which also happens to be his school friends. The technology today also allows them the convenience to be at home and spend almost as much time together as I used to without it. It seems it’s even easier to reach out to friends from the past than ever before, yet I still do not attempt to keep up with any of them.
There is one exception to this however, my friend Lisa found my classmates.com information a few years back and keeps in touch now and then. It’s nice to hear from a friend that I enjoyed spending time with. My wife is the queen social butterfly. There seems to be no where we cannot go where she is recognized by an old or new friend. I wish I had socialized with my friends more like she did. After many years she can recall times spent with friends that she treasures and thinks upon time and again. I want that.
It’s not too late. If my friend Lisa can find me through classmates.com it is entirely possible for me to do the same. I think I’m going to create a new category called Old Friends and see just how many I can find. Look for future posts as I explore the Internet in search of friends.
