We are preparing for winter. One of the gasket liners to the fireplace door insert needed to be replaced. The new store in Derry could accommodate me with 4 feet of the gasket liner (3 of which was needed), but didn't have the tools to disassemble the glass from the frame and replace it. G had tried to do it himself, but was stripping the odd-shapped diamond screws, and before he did more damage, asked if I'd take the door to the shoppe in Windham to see if they would take care of it. Shopping? With no kids? I was happy to oblige.
I walked into the stove shoppe, which was busy with Saturday shoppers. I walked up to the service counter where there was a gentleman finishing up a task that didn't involve a customer. I asked if they would replace the liner, and he offered to take a look at the door. We went outside, got the door, brought it back inside. He went into a back room and returned with some tools, none of which worked to loosen the screws. The guy who usually does this service wasn't in today and had a much broader selection of tools, I was told. We could try some WD-40 to loosen the screws, and if that didn't work, I was welcome to bring the door back later in the week, when it wasn't so busy and the service guy was there to change the gasket.
Anyway, that was just my seguay into the reason for this post. I was wearing a Moose Hill sweatshirt, which is from the Kindergarten in town Tommy and Christopher attended. So the guy notices and asks, "Do you live near Moose Hill?"
"I live in Londonderry, yes," I answered. "I live right near there," he tells me.
"Currier?" I asked. "Yes," he smiled. Then, "You grew up in the Valley, right?"
Now I am confused. "Who are you?" I ask, wondering how he knows about my past. "I grew up there, too," he tells me. "You're one of the twins, Karen or Kerri Elias, right?"
I am dumbfounded. I don't recognize him at all. Who the hell is he?
He smiles, amused that I can't place him and that he is divulging personal information about me. "Cameron," he says. "Rob?" I ask. He nods.
Now, I would never have recognized him if I bumped into him. I only knew who he was because I went to school with his sister and we used to hang out at their house, and Rob and his brother, Chris, were cool older brothers to this schoolmate. So I ask about Lori, where she is living, does she have any children. Their brother, Chris lives in Barrington, I'm told. Hunh, small world. We got Koda from a breeder in Barrington. And here Rob, who apparently recognizes me from over 20 years ago, lives right in good old Londonderry.
And so, this being the 20 year anniversary of my high school graduation and for which a reunion is taking place in late November, I realized that I must not have changed much in those 2 decades if I am still being recognized. That's good, right?
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