Do You Wonder what happened to people you used to know

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I do wonder and sometimes an event occurs that brings some things back.

I usually check the TV schedule in the afternoon so I can record programs in the evening. Today I saw that PBS has a documentary on Jerzy Popieluszko, who was a Priest in the Solidaridy Movement in Poland who disappeared and was thought killed by the Russians.
I marched for several days in front of the Russian Embassy on lake Shore Drive in Chicago to chant "Where is Jerzy Popieluszko? The Russians could be seen peeking behind the windows through the blinds to keep tabs on us. Of course the police came to make sure we behaved, and of course they weren't going to tell us anything, but we made a clammar anyway.

I met many of those involved in the Solidarity Movement who had to leave Poand in a hurry or they would have ended in Jail. The gal I was with had a choice between jail and deportation. She choose deportation and landed a job with Voice of America. She was such a passionate woman and a devout Catholic. I wonder where she is now and all those that are now our American brothers.

This was a time i was an active political person, Jerzy Popieluszko was found dead, but was a light to be remembered.


Anyone share any I wonder where they are now?


Annette

 

[JewelFreak]

Good question! Yes, I wonder about a few people. A couple of guys I dated -- would like to know how their lives turned out, what they're doing. Another friend of mine in a post-grad course who had very severe diabetes & was losing her sight; such a nice nice girl, & smart. Lost touch with her after the course was over. Have searched the internet but can't find anything -- don't know if she died (hope not!) or maybe got married & changed her name. Also a woman I worked with in England -- I lost her contact info 15 yrs ago, mad as heck at myself. Looking her up wouldn't help -- probably 8000 with the same, rather commonly seen, name. I would LOVE to get in touch with her.

--- Laurie

 

[amc80]

There are a few people I have wondered about, but most I have found on Facebook.

 

[jazzoboe]

smitcompton- What an interesting story! You got my attention with the mention of Voice of America, as the main transmitting station is about 5 miles from my house, 20 miles north of Cincinnati. I realize that they are actually headquartered in DC and have had several other locations, but this is a big one, so it's possible she could have ended up right around here.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

Thanks for your answers. I thought more about her last night and realized I should have used the word imprisonment instead of jail.
I said she was a devout catholic, but was divorced and had a child, an unusual combination for a devout Polish woman. She said she would never marry again. The wives of the other Solidarity members were very brave and adjusted to life here very well.

I have been very lucky to have had women friends and acquaintances who were ordinary women, who were really extraordinary.

I also looked up a few old friends from highschool to see what they were doing. I was so impressed with some of the things they had accomplished. One started a private school, one developed a business with her husband with 5 or 6 locations. I remember my husband and I going to visit them in upstate NY to see their first store. We were in our early 20's. They showed us the whole operation, which of course we didn't understand. Lost touch, but now speak a few times a yr. She's the same. I had such nice friends. I do mean really. No bickering or backstabbing.

Annette

 

[rubyshoes]

Never. I am a very out-of-sight-out-of-mind person. When people I knew a looooooong time ago try to get back in touch with me, I have very little enthusiasm for it.

 

[zoebartlett]

There are a few people I have wondered about, but most I have found on Facebook.

Ditto.

 

[Sky56]

Yes, almost to the point of obsession. I wondered about just about every person I ever met as a kid or young adult. I never would have imagined the Internet would ever exist and through it, just about all my questions answered through sites such as Google, zabasearch, Facebook, intelius, Ancestry, Classmates, etc. Sometimes it takes years to find out through sporadic web searching, for example re: some women who changed their last names with marriage...through seeing a parent's obituary, I was able to see the name and names of their children.

Fate is fascinating, some of the people I used to know ended up in extreme circumstances from destitute, homeless to multi-millionaire CEO. I was surprised how many died young...from AIDS, accidents, suicide.

And one guy, a college classmate, was a multi-millionaire CEO who committed suicide.

 

[distracts]

I wonder all the time about people I've lost touch with. It's SO annoying when I can't find them on facebook or through googling.

One in particular is worrying, as this woman was a juror on a high profile criminal case and received lots of death threats, then she vanished. I suspect she's in witness protection. But, like, I don't KNOW and it's really bothersome. There is literally NOTHING about her online since she disappeared.

 

[LaraOnline]

In theory I *hate* the idea of reunion with long lost friends, but when it has happened, it has sometimes (not always) been a nice surprise.
One friend of mine - an aquaintance really - had dropped out of school early, and very quietly, with his health under a cloud. He had back problems which were so severe that he was required to recuperate from an operation for at least a year!
He ended up getting a part-time fast food job, when he was on the road to recovery.
Fast forward 20 years - multi millionaire boss of international food chain!!

 

[TooPatient]

Never. I am a very out-of-sight-out-of-mind person. When people I knew a looooooong time ago try to get back in touch with me, I have very little enthusiasm for it.

Yep.

If you get me thinking about it, there are a few people I'd be curious to know about but not so much that I'd necessarily want to be back in touch with them again. I'm a whole different person than I was before I moved and I'm sure they have changed too.

 

[OreoRosies86]

Not really. If we weren't close it was probably for good reason.

 

[ame]

Not really. A lot of people "I used to know" I don't know anymore for a reason. There are a few that when I moved home after grad school we lost touch, one very particular "older" woman who I worked with that actually offered me a room in her home to stay out there so that I wouldnt move home, I miss her tremendously. I wonder what happened to her. I know she eventually moved in with her boyfriend, who wasn't living near us, after her mom passed. I sometimes regret having moved home. My DH and I met though right after that so I feel like I made the right call. Though we joke that Joe Magnianello is from PGH, and was still in the area at that time...who knows, I might've met him. Wouldn't have stood a chance, but damn, I would've tried.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Most of the people I quit talking to, I did so because there was some sort of toxic relationship going on. One person was my mom! I always did wonder what happened to her and kept searching for her and finally did find her. It didn't go too well, at all. She had a problem with boundaries before and nothing has changed. I had hoped she'd finally get a clue, but instead she was EXACTLY the same and completely unbearable and immediately she just brought piles of unneeded stress. No thanks!

 

[TC1987]

I wonder what happened with some of the people I used to work with, after the company was bought and dismantled / destroyed. I Googled one coworker who'd voluntarily quit his job and went back to his home state to pursue an advanced degree, leaving a great opportunity for me to step right into. He was one year younger than me. I was shocked to find his obituary online. He had gotten the degree, had been working as a day trader, and died at home, alone. He had never married and had no children. My thought was "He's too young to be dead!" It was very disturbing to me.

And one of my former managers who had retired sometime after I left his workgroup had also passed away, but he was old enough to be of my parents' generation. He had developed Alzheimer's' and had spent a few years in nursing home before he passed away. That man had a mind like an encyclopedia. He was considered an expert in his field, worldwide. And he had been stricken by Alzheimer's.

Sometimes it's better to think happy memories and not know. Personally, I'd be happy if someone from my past tried to reconnect with me now. I had my life turned upside by simultaneous job loss and divorce, and I just left town and didn't have any interest in revisiting any of that past until about a year ago.

 

[pregcurious]

I walked by Voice of America down in DC 2 weekends ago. I wonder if your friend is there.

 

[luv2sparkle]

There was one girl who came to my high school for one year. She had so many problems in her life. Last time I talked to her she thought she was pregnant. I never saw her again. She had talked of suicide. I would give a lot to know how she is. I think of her often. I know she was adopted but she knew her birth family so I can't even search for her because I think she may have gone back to her birth name, if she is even still alive.

Thanks to Facebook, I know more than I really want to about everyone else.

 

[momhappy]

Add me to the out-of-sight-out-of-mind group. Sure, I wonder a bit about some folks, but I'm not one to dwell on the past. I have a fairly easy time of letting go of friends and/or family once I lose touch with them. I was a counselor for a while and sometimes wonder what became of some of the patients in my program.

 

[packrat]

I had a couple penpals in high school that I'd like to know about. That's pretty much it.