Somewhere around 30 years ago, I woke up one fine and lovely Saturday morning, and the first thought that popped into my head, out of nowhere, was, "I want to talk to Jean."
Jean was the first girl I ever loved. We met when I was in 7th grade and she was in 9th. We were friendly-ish for years, until we really got close when I was a freshman. I had it for her bad, but it didn't resolve the way I would have liked, and I stepped away from her.
In the time after, she got married, had a couple of kids, and I went to college and other ultimately disastrous relationships. On that Saturday morning, though, I hadn't really even thought about Jean in years. I hadn't spoken to her in 13 years by that point, so it was way long ago. Wanting to talk to her out of nowhere was just weird.
What was more weird was that I looked up her husband's telephone number back in our old hometown and called, which is when I learned that he was now her ex-husband. Being a swell joe, though, he gave me Jean's mom's phone number, and I called Jean's mom (although I don't think she ever liked me that much). She said she'd pass my message on to Jean, and that was that.
A few days later, I get a call. Jean. Jean called me from Las Vegas, where she happened to be living at the time. It didn't sound like she was having such a good time. Things sounded rough for her. But overall, we talked a lot like we had when we were in high school. It was remarkable.
A bit after that, I get another call from Jean. This time, she tells me that she's back staying with her mom, having driven away from all the drama in Las Vegas. We got together a couple times, and it seemed like we were becoming friends again.
And then she disappeared.
It's a long story after that. She would come back for a while, and then disappear for a while, a regular cycle. And, ultimately, things didn't end well.
All that said, sometimes a sudden shot of someone we used to know might actually be important, for whatever reason.
