Greg Hartnett

<rant>I stopped at 7-11 late last night after my movie date with Boy Wonder. I was out of cigarettes, and needed to restock. See D-Day Anyway…

As I was pulling in, I noticed a couple of cops hanging out inside talking. I cautiously parked my car, turned off the engine, and walked towards the entrance. As I was walking in, some guy was walking out. He paused briefly, looking down, smiled at me, and briskly trotted off into the dark. The moment he began walking away, it struck me that he was an old friend of mine, Gary. A guy I have not seen in roughly 10 years. I walked around the inside of the store for a couple minutes - somewhat dazed by seeing him. I grabbed a Snapple, paid the clerk, smiled at the cops, and headed back to my car.

As I drove the remaining mile and a half to my house, I thought about Gary. I though about how tight we had been in high school and college. I thought about all the times we hung out - playing Nintendo (then Sega), going to parties, cruising around in either one of our beat-up cars, going to all sorts of concerts. Gary was a staple around my house - he ate dinner with me and my Nana pretty frequently. I though back then that Gary and I would be boys forever.

I moved to California in 1993 and our contact quickly deteriorated. I called him once in a while, and wrote him a few times. As the months passed, I made new friends and he did whatever it was that he did. The calls became less frequent, and within 18 months, we had pretty much stopped trying.

I heard that he is in this area - my sighting last night confirms. I wonder if I will decide to reach out and try to contact him. I wouldn’t mind hooking up with him again. Though our lives have taken different paths, we have a history together. It would be nice to have a drink, hear about where his life has taken him, learn about what it is that he hopes to do…</rant>