Every once in a while I get reminded that my memory has two distinct parts – before war and after. My memories from childhood, high school, and first time at college seem to be mostly gone. I remember certain people but others have completely faded.
A couple of days ago I was at a Starbucks in Lewisville working on an iOS app. A guy came in and sat down next to me. He looked familiar, but lots of people look familiar. At one point after going to the bathroom I was about to sit back down and he said “David.”
I was thrown off a bit because I couldn’t place him. But apparently we went to high school together and both played basketball so we were around each other every school day for years but he had faded from my memory.
Most days I think I’m completely normal and I don’t have to think back beyond a few weeks or months, but these infrequent reminders make me wonder how much damage was done in that stressful environment.