In 2009 I wrote a journal entry reminiscing about my days at Russell Sage JHS 190 in Forest Hills. I hadn't seen or heard about Josh S. for over 60 years. I remember he has a cousin named Elyse who at times posts to the Forest Hills HS 1960-75 alumni board on Facebook. I sent her a message questioning her about Josh. She gave me his email and phone number so we exchanged the information and then decided to talk over the phone. We had a nice conversation for about a half hour.
I told Josh about what I have done over the past 60 years. I think regular readers of my journal should know that so I will not repeat it here. Here are some of the things we discussed:
- After we graduated from Russell Sage in 1964 Josh went to Brooklyn Technical High School while I went to Forest Hills High School. At that point our paths diverged.
- Josh went to the University of Oklahoma while I went to City College of New York
- He started his career as an engineer for radio stations
- He married in 1972 and adopted two children.
- He was subsequently divorced and remarried in 1999.
- He is now a great-grandfather
- We talked about some teachers in Russell sage and some of our mutual friends
- We discussed Rego Park and Forest Hills and how it has changed over the decades,
People's paths cross for some years, but then they diverge. At that point they lose contact but very often in this era of social networking they reconnect. It has been my experience that reconnections are usually very brief. Likely, I will never hear from him again. Reconnections rarely result in a renewed friendship. As I have expressed in this journal several times "out of sight out of mind supersedes staying connected." I certainly enjoyed our conversation.
