After 24 Years
A few months ago, I was on MySpace trying to add “real” friends, and not people who just say “add me” and so I tried the name of one of my best friends from 4th and 5th grade, whom I had never been able to locate.  One day in 5th grade, they simply moved away without word.
To my surprise, he had just signed up for a MySpace account.
I sent a message, asking if, perhaps, he was the same person who live in Ames from 1982-83, and if not sorry for the inconvenience. Well, it was him.
Fast forward to yesterday. I took a day trip up to Minneapolis, and since he lived in the area asked if he wanted to grab something to eat that night. He said sure, and we met at the Mall of America and got in at Tony Roma’s fairly quickly.
The next… 4 hours were a whirlwind of catching up. We bounced back and forth between “do you remember” and “what are you doing now” trying to fill in the gaps. At about 11, knowing I had to drive 3 1/2 hours back to Ames, we finally called it quits.
I’m not going to try and write anything as eloquent as what has already been said in “Stand by Me” or “The Sandlot.” But the friends we had in elementary school were the ones who have the most direct and lasting effects on the rest of our lives. Despite the 24 years we hadn’t talked to each other, it was very comforting to talk to someone about the memories that, up until yesterday, I thought were only mine.
From getting in trouble at school together, to incinerating GI Joe’s, to mutual friends that our parents hated… being able to share YOUR memories with someone who knows EXACTLY what you were talking about, but from a slightly different perspective, is very cool.
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