I Heart Erica

Look! Twin Diet Coke bottles. It's like we were meant to be...

Since my last post was exclusively devoted to my reunion (and no, Brian doesn't look identical to the way he did in high school. He had blond hair then and fewer wrinkles (and I mean that in the best way possible because he has laugh lines around his eyes and mouth now, which I think look great)), I didn't post much about my mini-reunion with Erica.

Erica and I met sometime between the ages of 11 and 12 (we think). We met at one of the Methodist church dances that were organized monthly at different churches in the Western Washington area. She lived about two hours north from where I lived, but after our first meeting, we felt drawn to each other. I remembered asking for her address so we could communicate in-between dances. At that same dance, I had my first kiss with a boy that went to Erica's church. I won't post his full name here to avoid a repetition of past run-ins with google, but nevertheless, when Erica said his name I remembered him immediately.

We communicated through letters for a year or so and then lost touch with each other. Around Christmas time this year, I got a message from her on myspace. She said she woke up one day and remembered my last name, which hasn't changed through the years, as her's had. She typed my full name into myspace and only had one hit - my page. After a coincidence like that, she knew that she wanted to contact me and reconnect.

When I got the first message from her, I think I almost fell off the sofa. Memories of church dances, slow songs, first kisses, and letters came flooding back to me. It's not that I had forgotten about her, it was just that she was pushed into a recess in my mind. What's even more amazing than her finding me online has been the friendship that has developed (or redeveloped as it were).

Her unconditional love has redefined me as a person. When I say that I never knew people could treat each other this way, I mean that in both the negative and the positive sense. I've been hurt so badly this year by cruel, insensitive people, yet they've been overshadowed by these brilliant points of light. She's one of those points.


Why yes, I was a little drunk and more than a little tired in the above picture. At least Erica is looking fabulous. I love this picture of her and her husband, Rodney, below. Rod waited to meet me in person before asking if he could "friend" me on myspace. For the record, I said yes to his request.

Anyone recognize what's in the background of that photo?