Whatever happened to…

So many faces in and out of my life; some will last, some will be just now and then.
– Billy Joel (“Say Goodbye to Hollywood”)

Now and then, Lisa and I will have a conversation in which one of us asks “I wonder whatever happened to…”

Might be a former teacher, former co-worker or neighbor…even an ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend. For the most part, the conversation passes without much time or attention really given to the question. But there are probably a dozen or so folks out there, for whom we really want to know the answer to the question:

“Whatever happened to…”

One of those dirty dozen is my former co-worker Joe Kirby.

It’d be easy enough if his name were Simon Kirby or Kirby Joseph, even. But the name Joe Kirby is just not that unusual. A google search of “Joe Kirby” turns up hundreds/thousands of possibilities.

Joe is an interesting guy - we all called him Kirby or Kirbo - and I guess that is the basis for why we wonder where he wound up and what he’s doing now. He was a computer guy - a techie. He was also, at one point, a ham radio operator. He may still be for all I know.

But he was also multi-faceted - not just all about bits and bytes. He was also really into music. He was an excellent cook. He was a fabulous baker.

In short, he was an interesting guy to be around.

Unfortunately, we all got to a fork in our lives where our paths just diverged through nothing more than life circumstances. We had kids. He changed jobs. So did I. We moved. We moved again.

Pretty soon, we were out of touch.

I’ve been fortunate to know many folks in my life and I have had some great friendships. I still do. But there are a few people who have slipped away that I would love to get back in touch with if, for no other reason, just to find out how things turned out for them.

Joe is one of those guys.

You may have friends like that too. You would love to get together and catch up on what all you’ve missed during the last decade or two. It would be fun.

So…if you’re reading this, Joe, give me a call.

JG

Originally posted 7/25/2012