An e-mail forward arrived my inbox yesterday, sent from Jeff Padilla, an old friend from middle school and high school. Brian Freeman, one of the four or five soldiers reported to have been killed in a raid in Iraq, was actually ambushed, kidnapped and executed. Brian went to my high school, but I don’t think I ever really had a conversation with him back then. I did, however, recognize a younger version of his face when I saw the military portrait I found on a tribute website.

Among the trail of recipients in the e-mail were 21 other names from Torrey Pines, all from our class. I haven’t seen nor spoken with most of the folks on the list, but even seeing their names in print brings back fond memories from the past — memories from before growing up and being thrust into Real Life…