I grew up with some pretty great people. My next-door neighbor, the kid of the woman who watched me while my mother was at work, the kid of my mother’s college roommate, friends from day care, the one that I made cry in the new mothers class because I was crying as well (no one ever said I was an easy child). Unfortunately, time is inconvenient. We grew up, some of them moved away, we lost contact, we changed, life kept moving. I still thought of these friends sometimes, wondered if they remembered my name or if I was just a face in the haze of memory.

And then something amazing happened. Something unexpected, something I wasn’t ready for, something that made me giddy, time was coming back to me, memories came full circle. That something brought my friends, my childhood back to me. That something amazing is Facebook.

Now, some of you have probably read that last line over and over a few times, thinking about how I began all sentimental and suddenly became another ‘basic’ teenager obsessed with social media. Believe you me, if the world of technology suddenly crashed and we were sent backwards into time, into a world of letter-writing, Pokémon Go-less walks, and reading actual physical books I would be as happy as a clam, but in this instance, social media has done something amazing.

It started two summers ago; when that kid of my mother’s college roommate found me on Facebook, reminded me of my childhood aspirations (I once said I wanted to become a carrot, yes, you read that correct, I can’t make this stuff up). We began talking, caught up, even visited a park we attended as kids and relived our childhood, like nothing ever changed (other than the fact that we grew a few feet).

The summer following the child of the woman who took care of me found me on Facebook as well, we caught up, and talk constantly about anything and everything.

In high school I found out that the club I was in became a home for the kid who grew up next-door to me.

With all of this I have learned something, that an old nursery rhyme is true; “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver, and the other gold”.

This article is for the friends that may have moved away, the ones who may have changed, may have grown up, but never left. The ones that were lost, a memory of the past, but were found again. I may not be best of friends with some of you, or any of you, but that doesn’t mean I value you any less, you all mean the world to me, and I am so incredibly happy to have found you all again, to see you ‘grown up’ and to be able to continue growing with you. Here’s to the memories we made and the memories still to come, here’s to the friends with hearts of gold, you know who you are. Thank you.