Does This Take The Biscuit?

[Caran]

Reading the where are you now page in Yours Magazine one item caught my attention.
Seeking Bert Cooper who served at RTO Barry 1845-48. Would like to hear from you.
How old would he be?
This page makes me laugh each month, there are so many stupid requests.
Someone else wanted to contact people evacuated from Southampton in 1938!

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

My Grandad lived to older than the 1938 people

[boxtops]

Mys sister's still alive and she was a child in 1938, so if she'd lived in Southampton, it could have been her - I don't see why that's unreasonable!

[Caran]

I appreciate that mojo but what would they have in common after all these years?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

I'm guessing the 1845-48 is a misprint or typo and should be 1945-48.

[ummmm]

They don't need anything in common. Being completely different would be more interesting.

[Caran]

I did wonder about that, but it did make me laugh.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

Does it matter Caran? Maybe they just need to be around someone who experienced what they went through so they can get some closure.

[boxtops]

I agree with mojo, it's a typo, surely - and the 1938 evacuees might not have anything in common other than that fact, someone might be trying to contact them for research purposes, e.g. for a book. That's not uncommon.

[Butterbun]

One of my neighbours was born in 1927 and she is still around, going on holidays, shopping, theatre, and enjoying life. Plenty of life left in her yet I would say. She is in her eighties so yes, someone from 1938 could well be around barring illness or tragedy.

[Caran]

It's not the fact that someone is still around from that date, it's why would you want to contact someone that you haven't seen for 76 years?

[ummmm]

Fond memories and maybe a last chance.

[boxtops]

If you consider that the past becomes more recent as you get older, scenes from your childhood can still fascinate you. A bunch of alert 80-pluses is fascinating company - the shared experience would make a great reuinion if they were sharing memories. You don't have to know the people to share experiences with them.

[mrs_overall]

I had a great uncle who fought in The Great War and as he approached 90 (and near the end of his life) he got a bit obsessed with wondering what had happened to people he had been at school with and people he had gone to war with.
Because he lived in the same house from 1902 and had the same job from 1912 to 1964 it was fairly easy to trace a few people. Unfortunately they were all dead.
I think it is fairly common for some of the elderly to dwell more on the past than to deal with the present.