have i lost track of all the time?

when i was growing up one of my best friends lived next door to me in the connected duplex. he and i hung out a lot and played together often, even though he was a year older than me. we had the same birthday, which caused problems every year trying to schedule parties. i remember being at one of his birthday parties; I was probably seven or eight. we were at a pool with a lot of his friends that i didn't know. his dad was throwing these medallions in the pool for us kids to dive after: colorful anodized aluminum medallions in electric blue and gold and red. i remember the feeling of being at the bottom of the pool, hands scrabbling to grab these aluminum coins.

his parents were from india, though i'm pretty sure he was born in the u.s. i remember how his house smelled differently than mine, i guess because of cooking spices, but at the time i just remember finding it unusual and somewhat unpleasant because it wasn't familiar. funny because now i'd probably find it enticing and even a bit exotic.

we lost touch when my family moved, right before i turned ten. a few years ago i tried to find him through the internet. i do this often late at night with old friends and acquaintances. i'm not really sure why. i think sometimes i just want to see how that static picture in my head has changed over the years. if i happen to find someone, sometimes i try to get in contact and other times i just let it slide away.

turns out he was studying neurophysics in california. i found his email address and wrote him a short letter. he never replied. a year or two later i tried again and still no reply. i'm still a little sad about that. i wonder if he's happy or busy or just trying to leave his past life behind. for some reason i still google him now and then, just to see where he's gone. he finished his doctorate and is now working to get his m.d. i wonder if he'd think it strange that i know this about him.