I can't recall exactly how long ago it was, but I reconnected with my old middle school (seventh grade) language arts & social studies teacher, Lee, on Facebook sometime in the last year. My mom, who knew him and his wife Lynn well from our days in Kathmandu, Nepal (where I lived for three years in the nineties from grades 6-8), told me that they lived in Bend, Oregon, which is where we happened to decide to go on our little getaway this weekend.
We've been out and about during the day, but how incredible it has been to reconnect with Lee and Lynn after about twenty-six years (we left Nepal in 1995 while they stayed several more years). Lincoln School in Kathmandu is a tiny K-12 international school. I remember those years so well and so fondly, and still remember so many of the people that were there when I was and that my family knew (through work at the State Department and socially), although our paths have diverged. The international community has shaped such a big part of who I am and I remember my time in Nepal as being some of the happiest years of my whole life. You also never forget great teachers in your past (even though I find it hard to believe they remember their students!). Lee and Lynn's path took them to Zimbabwe and Argentina, Bend at first being somewhere to spend a few weeks per year on breaks until they fully retired here a few years ago. We have been in Humboldt County almost ten years and have been to Bend a couple of times, but both instances were before they resided here permanently (and long before we knew they were in town).
We loved hearing about their (now-adult) kids, their paths (and they ours-- they were also very interested in learning Kelvin's story!), as we enjoyed chats as well as a lovely Italian dinner on their back deck. There is something truly comforting about reconnecting with people you knew in a *former* life, and the time was incredibly special to me. After knowing each other on another continent across the world more than a half-lifetime ago (for me), we have landed seven hours' drive away (what a small world, indeed!) and were able to connect (thanks to vaccines) in person despite the biggest global pandemic in a century. We enjoyed truly the most beautiful of guest rooms in a house directly overlooking the picturesque Deschutes River, with a kitchen and lots of cool amenities (induction stove, pellet stove for heat, solar tubes for light, and heated-seat deluxe bidet. They even had a hot tub on their deck!).
Speaking of throwbacks, Kelvin spotted this Blockbuster in Bend on our way out of town to go on a hike. Kelvin thought that he had read that there was also one open in Alaska, but brief internet research has confirmed that this is indeed the very last Blockbuster store on the planet (Alaska's store closed in 2018 and Australia's followed in 2019, and apparently there's a Netflix documentary about this very store and story that I’ll have to watch sometime). Any of you who grew up in the eighties and nineties are surely familiar with this relic of American life... seeing this sign made us nostalgic, for sure! Who would have thought... BEND, Oregon?!
(and to think we almost just zoomed by instead of stopping for a photo since we were on our way to start a long hiking day, but Kelvin insisted!)
(I couldn't decide if the food tasted so good because of the novelty of the restaurant experience after such a long time or just because I've also gotten tired of my own mediocre cooking!)
We also had delicious northern Thai food at Wild Rose for another meal.
The future (especially a post-pandemic one) is alluring. But remembering those special things-- and people-- from our past is so good for the heart and soul!
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