Brusha brusha brusha

Seems like almost every morning when I brush my teeth these days I think of my old friend J. She and I were best friends in grammar school. One of her defining traits was how vigorously she brushed her teeth. I think she'd go through a toothbrush every month or something (an exaggeration, I know).

She also was a big Beatles fan. We would sit in her basement and listen to the Beatles, on record albums I believe, for hours. When I moved to NJ, I would visit her frequently when we went back to RI to visit relatives, which basically was every month. She came to NJ to visit several times. And of course we wrote lots of letters.

As time went by, of course, the connection grew weaker. However, when she got married I was invited to her wedding. I was sad at the time she had as her maid of honor another friend from grammar school. But it was a fact of life - I had moved away. She married a guy she had met in an unlikely place - a bar! At least unlikely for her. She was so happy to be with him (and him with her) and knew he was the one and had plans to have lots and lots of kids and parties in her yard as her parents had done. [I must note that I was an idiot - I took photos at her wedding and gave them to her as a present, but just in a stack, not placed in a nice book. Ok, that's a regret I have.]

When I returned from Zimbabwe I went to make a presentation to her class (she was a grammar school teacher). The kids loved it and I received lots of thank you notes. But after that, I lost touch. I think she moved and I have no idea where she is now. I would love to find her and touch base. The problem is, her name is fairly common, so it's hard to find her. I do wonder though, and hope she's having a happy life.