Like many, I am always curious as to what happened to the people who shared my life either as friends or just classmates as children and teenagers.
Some months ago a cousin of mine, another person keen on networks and friendships, contacted me to say that he had an old rugby league mate who knew me and wanted to catch up. He told me who the person was and I had a mixed reaction. This guy came from a lovely family, living not far from us when I was a child.
A large, happy family who accepted me, a sometimes alone little boy, as part of their home for some years. I was the eldest in my family with some years separating me from my siblings so having children of my own age to play with was neat. I went everywhere with these people when allowed, swimming, the pictures, school of course.
After a while the family shifted away for some years, returning to town when I was in my early teens but living in a different neighbourhood. Being children, we had all moved on to new friendships but knew each other were there.
Time goes by and I leave home to train as a policeman. The guy my cousin contacted me about, a clever, personable guy, took a slightly opposite path to mine in life, walking the wild side and coming into some conflict with the law as a young man.
Luckily, for some reason, I never had to have dealings with him as a police officer. I would see him in hotels and clubs with his mates. We would look at each other, usually vacantly and move on. He never gave me cause to worry. We never acknowledged each other openly, probably not a good idea for him in front of those guys. Just walk on by.
Fifty years go by. I always remembered my friendship with this guy and his family with fondness and a sense of loss. I have always wondered what happened to them all.
So when my cousin told me about his friend wanting to touch base I agreed. Heck, I have not been a cop for 30 years; we are both now older men, who cares. My cousin assured me that the guy lived a very quiet life and is no longer a bad boy.
So we made contact via my cousin on Facebook and have been in contact via Messenger since. He is a quiet man, does not say much but sends me photos and memories of our childhood. He has also filled me in on his siblings. Just a normal happy family. Mostly grandparents now.
We have talked about mutual acquaintances from our days on opposite sides of the fence and he has told me some of his adventures in his younger days. Some great stories.
Funnily he is not, and I do not recall him ever being, anti-police. He chose his lifestyle and dealing with police was just a natural side-effect.
We are still a bit distant with each other as, well, we have not had anything to do with one another since I was about 9 or 10. There is still that little barrier that always exists between ex-cops and ex-interesting chappies. I am good with it, as he is. We will likely never meet in person but do not have to now in the days of social media.
For me, it has been a pleasure to make contact with this man. It has filled in some gaps for me and renewed some very nice childhood memories.
Not all of our childhood friends have an easy life, whether by misfortune or choice, but at some stage in our lives we had something in common, we liked each other and enjoyed each other's company. We played together, had adventures, shared secrets, got into harmless mischief.
Sadly we all become too serious when we grow up.
