{"id":33391,"date":"2011-06-04T21:56:08","date_gmt":"2011-06-05T05:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=33391"},"modified":"2011-06-04T22:00:03","modified_gmt":"2011-06-05T06:00:03","slug":"i-want-to-reconnect-with-my-ucla-dorm-mates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=33391","title":{"rendered":"I Want To Reconnect With My UCLA Dorm Mates"},"content":{"rendered":"

I feel like if I can just reconnect with people from my past, I can heal the those years and move on with my life.<\/p>\n

I’m particularly eager to reconnect with people I knew during my brief sick year at UCLA 1988-89<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem is I only remember one last name from that period and that is of my ex-girlfriend and she’s now married with a kid and calls me an “old man” and she’s not on Facebook so I can’t scan her friends list to look for familiar names.<\/p>\n

Only once have I run into anyone from that time. It was a Friday Night Live at Sinai Temple circa 2002. I ran into Doug, who was on my special quiet floor at Rieber Hall. <\/p>\n

He was this dimpled little Jewish guy who’d done some modeling. <\/p>\n

It was great to reconnect. I think we only talked for a few minutes and this was during the days before Facebook so we haven’t had any contact since.<\/p>\n

This UCLA year was a painful year for me. I had expected it to be the springboard to my grand future and instead it was only a springboard to another five years in bed with the whimpily-titled Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.<\/p>\n

I flashed some real promise that year, impressing several of my professors and classmates. Yet I was only a flash in the pan. I dropped out of school, never to return. <\/p>\n

All my friends thought my illness was only in my head. If I could just talk to them now, if I could only explain it was real, but I’m doing better, I’ve overcome. I’m a fricken hero. If only I could just talk to them. If only I could find them on Facebook. Perhaps if we could get together for coffee.<\/p>\n

There was that one girl. I did reconnect with her six years later. And I treated her wrong. I want to apologize. I was a fool. I’d thought there’d be plenty<\/a>. How wrong I was. <\/p>\n

Related: My Former UCLA Classmate Is Now A Lieutenant Colonel In The U.S. Army<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Sierra Community College, June 1988, after winning awards for Student of the Year in Communications and Political Science.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

On my girlfriend’s bed at Rieber Hall in the Spring of 1989.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

At UCLA in August 1989.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I feel like if I can just reconnect with people from my past, I can heal the those years and move on with my life. I’m particularly eager to reconnect with people I knew during my brief sick year at … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9961],"tags":[7070,26679,31599,13118,26680,29871],"class_list":["post-33391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-ucla","tag-chronic-fatigue-syndrome","tag-dorm-mates","tag-facebook","tag-jewish-guy","tag-quiet-floor","tag-sinai-temple"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t