Facebook is astounding.  And this post is verbose – but it’s a fun story & the photos are adorable, so stick with me.  

As a kid, I lived in Reading, MA.  I walked to the corner store, rode my bike to the library, ice skated at the town field, and walked to school (uphill, both ways, in the snow dammit!) (I just google checked it – it was just under a mile each way)

On the way to school – in 1st grade – I would stop by and meet up with my neighbor friends, Mark & Page.  Mark was in 1st grade with me, and Page was in kindergarten.  We would traipse off together in all sorts of weather.

I remember one snowy day, all A Christmas Story bundled to the hilt in my snow suit, I tripped while leaving the school yard and bumped my knee on a rock.  I cried, got up, brushed myself off, and walked home with tear stains on my frozen cheeks only to find it was most likely a piece of glass I fell on, and it had gone through my snowpants, my layers, and a good way into my knee.  I could have used stitches, but ain’t nobody got time for that.  I still have the scar.  Right there with the scars from taking off my training wheels and wiping out good in the gravel driveway.

Anyway – Page was with me that day, as she was many many others.  We became quite good friends and I have very vivid memories of spending oodles of time at her house and riding bikes on her cull de sac.  When we moved from Reading to NH in 1989, there was no facebook and keeping in touch as 5th and 6th graders wasn’t really a priority.  Onwards and upwards as the say.  But I never forgot that super smart blonde haired girl.

In September of 2008, 19 years after we moved away, I was poking through FB searching for memories from my past.

I stumbled across a name, and a tiny thumbnail that looked like it could be familiar.

I composed and sent this message –

Sorry to bother – but I was wondering if you lived in Reading MA in elementary school? I lived on Grove Street, and I used to walk to school with a girl named Page, I graduated in 96 and she was a year behind me – –

We played othello and rode bikes – I broke my thumb in your driveway. We walked to school with a boy named Mark who lived at the top of your road.

If it’s not you, again, sorry to bother!

1o minutes later (thank you internet) I received this reply –

Woah! How on earth did you ever find me? The internet is an amazing thing…

I am indeed the Page with the walks to school and bike rides, games of Othello (can’t believe you remembered that) who borrowed all of your Babysitter’s Club books. And, how weird is this, I actually moved home for the summer and am at that house in Reading. right now! 

Where are you living now? What do you do for work? Are you married? Kids? I’m so curious! I hope that the past 20 years have been good to you…

All the best, Page

It’s been so nice to see her name pop up in my newsfeed these past years, and even more awesome when I got a new message from her, asking about some photos for her sweetest, cutest, most adorable little moppet!

I don’t know that I’ve ever been so excited, and so nervous for a shoot.  So happy to reconnect and meet her little one.  And learn her news that little one will be a big sister this spring.  It was all just phenomenally amazing.  And then…

I met Rosie.  There has never been a child more aptly named.  She is a Rosie, through and through. And we had the sweetest little adventure.  Then we went out for 2nd breakfast and spent nearly 2 hours catching up.  As brilliant and as wonderful as ever, and a wonderful mother.

It’s funny, once I saw her in person, I realized that my last true memory of her was when she was 11 – and in my head all these years she was still 11, it was almost a surprise to see her as a fully grown adult!

Facebook, thank you.  And Page, THANK YOU!