Peeps from the Past

A couple things prompted me to write this:

Last week, I was on my way to a meeting in Claremont and decided to take a rarely used shortcut to skip part of the freeway.  I passed by my mom's old manager's office and it was the first time I thought about him in over a decade.

Last night, Jerry ran into an old childhood friend that he hadn't seen since 6th grade...make that 20 years!

Both instances made me think about people during the pre-Facebook years that were part of my life and how I have no clue what happened to them now.  In some instances I don't even know their names but I remember things about them that have stayed with me until today.

Sodani Ung:
My best friend in 2nd/3rd grade at El Portrero ES in Moreno Valley.  We were one of the only few Asians in our school!  You would think with a name spelled like that...I'd be able to facebook her, huh?  Nope.  Since I moved to El Monte in 1991, we completely lost touch of each other.

Derek Brown:
Yep, I had crushes as early as 2nd grade.  (Which makes me feel like a late bloomer, given that kids nowadays are engaged by kindergarten.)  He was a cute white boy that went to the same school as me and Sodani.  That's all I remember.  He probably isn't that cute now...(Remember the taxi scene from 13 Going on 30- Chris Grandy?)

Eddie (no last name):
As a single mom my mom was pretty handy and did as much as she could around the house, but there were some things she couldn't do, so she paid Eddie, our neighbor in our cul de sac, to take care of odd jobs like mowing the lawn or mounting large frames to the wall.  He was always so nice, quiet, and laidback.  I remember that his wife had a very strong personality, and they had a lot of daughters, so he was probably overruled all the time. :)

Thao Vuong Quang:
We were neighbors (in the same cul de sac as Eddie) and used to walk to school together.  I was actually about 3 years older so we were able to play with each other for a while (pogs and bikes- not dolls and tea cups type playing), but we didn't really see each other that much since we both moved to different parts of El Monte and never overlapped in school again.  Now, I might have a shot at getting in contact with her again, as our moms used to be friends.  I went to her brother's wedding many years and we exchanged contact info...but that's all I remember.  I probably lost the slip of paper.  I don't know if our moms keep in touch anymore...I'll have to ask one of the days.  I totally wouldn't mind catching up with her now, 3 years isn't a big deal when you're older.  Again, she's not Facebook-able.  But then again, neither am I, as of September 18, 2010. :)

David Onsurez:
Another crush from 5th grade.  Seriously, that's all I remember.

The aforementioned boss:
I don't even know his name, and right now I can't even remember the Vietnamese name that I used to call him by!  I do remember my mom would ask him how's dating life, and he would tell us that his trick in screening girls on dates was to pick them up in his really ugly white van, instead of a regular car.  If the girls didn't seem to care, then he knew they weren't as superficial...but if they didn't like it, then he wouldn't even bother with a second date.  Now with Facebook, it's pretty easy to pre-screen a date, and not just go off the model and make of a car. :)

The Ly family:
Most of my family tree stays in contact with each other.  It's pretty easy because we all live in So Cal, with the exception of some folks in Germany, Canada, and Vietnam.  But there's one branch of my family that I haven't seen or heard from in nearly a decade, and they still live in So Cal.  The family feud happened the generation before mine, so I stayed out of it.  And hence, I don't know exactly what happened.  But cousins that I had celebrated birthdays with, that I had gone on road trips with- I don't know what's going on with them now.  The last time I saw any of them was when they came to visit me at UCLA during my freshman year.  Since the family feud involved the adults, I think we kept in touch via AIM and yahoo mail anyway, but as you know, something called gmail came along...

I wonder what happened to these folks.  I hope where ever they are, they're content and happy with their lives!

Do you have people like that from your past?  Ungoogleable, unfacebookable, unsearchable?