Old Phone Books

While listening to my messages, I went through one of my bookshelves. There, I found one of my old phone books. (Yes, I know, I can't believe I keep these things either. It's right up there with keeping Target bags, in case I might need them.) This one is one of my very oldest - it has entries from when I used to live in California (1983 - 1989). It also includes a lot of people from high school, college, and grad school.

(Aside - this is strange, because I also kept an index card filer with a lot of numbers as well, which I found about a month ago. These two were apparently kept at overlapping times, so either I lost one for a while, or the index card system was used for friends I wasn't sure would be a friend for a long time, and the actual book was for more permanent entries.)

It's strange to realize that I've known the boy long enough to now have 4 numbers for him. Two are from when he lived here, one's from Atlanta, and the other is the current number. I mean, I've known him since 1989 or 1990, but it caught me off guard to have tangible proof of this fact.

This isn't just about the boy, though. It's interesting because I can now see many permutations of friendships throughout the years. I've got updates from the many moves that my other friends have had as well.

Or perhaps I'm just feeling sentimental. Or old. Or both. It is a grey day outside; how else should I pass the time?