Monday, August 06, 2007

What Ever Happened to
Christopher Kirkwood-Watts?

On the way home from work tonight it suddenly occurred to me: what did happen to Christopher Kirkwood-Watts? Or Lori Sprague? Or Lori Eigenfield. Of course, my first thought was that Chris probably kept his maiden name thus making it simpler to track him down--and really, how many Kirkwood-Watts could there be? There's also the fact that with only one typical spelling for Christopher I need not confuse myself with Lori versus Lauri... or was it Laura?

I met Chris in Denmark; we were both Rotary Exchange Students during the 1988 and 1989 school year. His parents were English teachers in El Paso Texas and his hyphenated name seemed rather avant guard at the time. He was a better chess player than I was and introduced me to the Guccio Piano opening as well as the Italian Variation. The Lori's were from mid-West states. Least ways I think Lori Sprague was from Michigan and Eigenfield, maybe Illinois. I met my first Mormon in Denmark--he was fascinated with Jim Morrison and drank all the time; never having met a Mormon before I didn't know how far from his flock he was. All in all there was a couple hundred of us who maintained fairly close friendships during this adventure... I had the best of intentions of keeping in touch. These days I'd be happy to remember more than the small handful of names that I recall.

I guess I'll know when I make it rich and famous and the dear friends from my past begin to find me; I will welcome that day. Obviously I'm not there yet. The only consistent comment-teers on this blog are my mother, my aunt, my wife, and a few fellow bloggers. The likelihood of Mr. K-Watts, or the incredible burping Margot--a Kiwi from Down Under (she was about 4 foot nuthin' with a belch you'd expect from Andre the Giant), or Gerry from Georgia, or even my cousin Manley whom I haven't spoken with in about 20 years--the likelihood of any of them stumbling across our blog, AND taking the time to read enough to know that the author is none other than me, AND THEN taking enough time to leave a comment... well, let's just say I won't be staying up late tonight hitting refresh on the comment page.

I guess in the end I accept I'm no Chris Stevens ala John Corbett; perhaps I should pontificate less and just take more pictures. Meh.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

yes, more pics

Anonymous said...

But our Love and concern for you outways any of those people.
Just cause it does! It always will so don't feel alone. Your true friends and family will always be there in the end.I traveled for 20+ years and reconnected with old friends after I finally retired. We picked up right where we had left off.
Love you More
Aunt Patti

Unknown said...

Just remember who was there before you hit it big!!!

Unknown said...

Ask of the Internet, and so shall ye receive. There are two Kirkwood-Wattses in all the world, my sister and myself.

Interesting what one might find should one google oneself.

Hi, Jason. Long time. Would send e-mail address, if I could figure out how to do that without exposing myself to the entire world.

I think Eigenfeld is a Laurie. But, it's been a very, very long time.

The Troxels said...

Chris,

Leave a comment with your email address. I moderate all comments and will not publish it to the site.

Good to hear your out there and listening!

:j

Anonymous said...

Wowsers! You and Chris found eachother, I have contact for a bunch of people that I've collected over the years (including the two Lauries) in hopes of having a reunion one day. . .

Happy 20th btw!

drop a line through my website and we'll get this thing going!