The One Thing I Wish I Had Done
Beyond writing names and explanations on the back of photographs (why didn’t I do this consistently?), I wish I had kept a spreadsheet of everyone I knew. Not everyone I met — that would be ridiculous — but there were friends from childhood or college, people I used to hang out with thirty years ago, people who I knew from preschool, people who were important to me on a day-to-day basis, but whose existence has slipped my mind because our orbits fell out of sync.
Of course, there are some people I remember. But there are many more that I’ve forgotten.
How amazing would it be to bump into someone or see them on Facebook and know that I know them and be able to turn to the spreadsheet and see my notes? And if it had pictures (from multiple points in time in case I knew them as a kid and wouldn’t know them as an adult) and I could see the person’s face with the name next to it? Even better.
5 comments
Oh, to have a historical cheat sheet. Relatable.
I am not always good at recognizing faces from the past… I was in an elevator at work and this woman greeted me, “Lori! How are you??” She obviously knew me — someone from another department aht I’d probably met and worked with on some project or other — but I had NO idea who she was!! Too embarrassed to admit it too — I just made some polite responses and was relieved to escape when we got to the ground floor!
My mother is much better at it — we were at the Toronto airport (30-ish years ago now), and she pointed to a woman nearby and said, “Oh, that’s [my Grade 8 teacher].” (!) I would never have made the connection. Granted, it was still at least 20 years since I’d been in Grade 8, but…! (I didn’t go over to say hello, much to my regret, as she’s gone now.)
I have an insane visual memory. Like, I hold faces and names for Bryce, too. 🙂 BUT, I struggle with recognizing students later, if they’ve changed a lot (as boys often do after middle school). It is terrible when you run into people in a different context and can’t place them…at all. But people from when I was in school? Particularly those that wronged me (ha)? I remember them all! 🙂
Your mind is a fascinating place!
Also, nothings stopping you from starting that spreadsheet now!