Blast from the past

I know that guy. Or do I? I am at a meeting in Boston. Out of habit I look for people I know. Familiar facial characteristics trigger memories. I know the odds are low that someone will be a blast from the past. Over the years I have run into someone I knew at locations that were exotic. I have coincidentally run into a co-worker at a winery in Napa Valley, a classmate in NYC-Times Square and another classmate on the mall in Washington, DC.
Some people change so much that you'd never know them. When I go in restaurants in my hometown, Oak Ridge, TN, I know no one. Who are these people? And why is it important that I try to reconnect. Is there something about ships passing in the night...paths crossing once again that is, in itself, interesting? Even a few minutes spent catching up has its own attraction. Strangers may have a story to tell. But when reconnecting with the past... well, then you have a second intersection point for the winding road you both have taken. Don't I know you? --James