neighbor, nostalgia
In 1989, my family moved to Portsmouth from Norfolk because of...well, I'm not really sure. Maybe something to do with Dad's job. It doesn't really matter, though. I had just turned 10 (literally JUST), so it was some time in August.
Some time between moving in and school starting, I got stung on the face by a bee. Mom, being Mom, was taking all kinds of care of me and bought me one of those little hand-held mazes with the tiny metal ball inside. I was outside on the curb in front of the house playing with it one day when the girl from the corner house across the street came over and decided to talk to me out of nowhere. We got to talking and it turned out that we got along pretty well. The one and only thing I distinctively remember from that conversation was that she said something about her house's chimney, but she pronounced it "chi-muh-ney"; so naturally, me being the smartass I was even then, I had to make fun of her and pronounce it "chin-o-me"...which of course lead to chin jokes galore, etc. Her name was Michelle Baker.
Before too long, we were hanging out pretty regularly. She and her brother, Willie, were also friends with the kids who lived next to them, so all of us hung out and played together from time to time. The Bakers weren't allowed to have people in their back yard or cross the street, so we'd usually play in their front yard or in their neighbors' front yard. Before too long, one way or the other, she became my "girlfriend". We'd even walk home from school together holding hands most days.
Some time in December, her friend Lesslie started coming around sometimes, too. Sometimes I wouldn't catch Michelle after school and would end up seeing Lesslie somewhere, so I'd walk with her and all we'd do was argue (which is hilarious, retrospectively). I happened to find Lesslie riding her bike one day as I was riding mine and followed her just to be a pest, which turned out with us ending up back at her house and then back at mine -- of which all I remember is Mom offering her a banana. After that, we decided she was my girlfriend. So for a brief while, I had two.
One day, Michelle, Michelle's neighbors, and I were playing in her neighbors' back yard. Somehow, the idea of kissing Michelle came up (probably because she was my girlfriend). Then it became a challenge. So Michelle and I went to her neighbors' front porch. It was COLD. Every time we'd nearly get up the courage, one of the other kids would creep up from the back yard -- so eventually one of us got the brilliant idea to hide ourselves underneath my heavy coat so they couldn't see us. I still remember the kiss and the moments underneath that coat vividly. Needless to say, Lesslie was pretty displeased when she found out.
The next thing I remember with Michelle was when her family got a big trampoline a few years later. It went in the back yard, so naturally, the kids were allowed to have people in the back yard by then. I went over there and played on it almost every day for a long time.
We'd occasionally cross paths over the next few years and regain contact for a few weeks, or months, but it would slowly fizzle out. There was one point in high school when one of her classes was near my study hall classroom, so she'd sneak a visit for a while -- and my teacher was perfectly okay with it. She gave me her yearbook picture that year and it said on the back that I was her best friend. I hadn't quite developed a sense of what that statement truly means yet, so it didn't mean a lot at the time other than, in my mind, she liked me the most of her friends.
One day, when I was 17, she found me on the way out of school and we decided to walk home together. As we walked across the giant field between the school and our neighborhood, one of Michelle's enemies decided that was a good time to kick her ass. So the girl basically came up from behind her, took her maybe 20 or 30 feet away from me and went to town. It was like watching a game of Double Dragon or something. I was so much in shock (and afraid of getting my own ass beat) that all I could do was stand and watch. Once the girl decided she was finished, she pretty much just left Michelle there and went on her way.
The very next thing I remember is walking through the field with our arms on each other's shoulders, heading to the middle school rather than to our neighborhood, to go to the nurse's office. I don't remember how it went, but after a while, I stopped out and waited for her in the main office, then walked home with her.
We'd see each other occasionally and we'd talk about how she was recovering, what was going on at school with the girl, etc. Michelle's mom ended up taking the girl to court. And I was Michelle's witness.
We might have met once or twice after that -- and I specifically remember finally being allowed into Michelle's house briefly (no one was ever allowed in), but otherwise, that was the last I ever saw of her. The Bakers moved away shortly after that and then we moved away shortly after they did. That was 1997.
Occasionally, when there'd be some new site like Classmates or Myspace or that kind of thing, I'd search for Michelle, but I had no real basis for how to sort out whether one of them was her or not, so it was a pretty futile move. Sometimes I'd just want to see how she was doing, sometimes I'd see that picture from high school and miss her, sometimes I'd go through all the people I knew then and eventually get to her on my list, etc....but it was all moot since I never found her.
Recently, I went through the process of making my big mix CD with songs for each of the important people and moments in my life, and actually contacted the people themselves to tell them what they meant to me. Still no sign of Michelle.
About a month ago, I was adding a lot of people from my old school class on Facebook, and as a result, Facebook would suggest "People I Might Know" based on people I'd added. It suggested Willie Baker.
Bingo.
I contacted him and we went over some nostalgia from living near each other, then started catching up on what life is like these days. He mentioned he was thinking about moving back around this area some time next year, and then mentioned he might be bringing Michelle with him. I was very pleasantly surprised. Somehow it came out that she lives about 20 minutes from him now, so I told him to tell her hi for me, but really thought nothing of it.
He sent me a message today saying she was "excited" to hear we'd talked and that she said for him to give me her phone number...but I wasn't around when he sent the message, so I don't have the number yet.
Over the years, I've learned what it really means to be someone's best friend, and what she probably meant when she said it. I also had the experience a few months ago of creating the mix CD thing and bringing all the most important or influential people from my past "together" to bring with me into the rest of my life. I think now is the best time for us to be reconnecting, because I'd like her to know that I finally realize what she felt for me back then and that I'd like to have that into the future. I'd like to reach out and connect with her the way she seemed to be trying to reach out to me back then.
But even if the phone call doesn't become all or any of that, hey, at least I get to talk to Michelle Baker again.
Some time between moving in and school starting, I got stung on the face by a bee. Mom, being Mom, was taking all kinds of care of me and bought me one of those little hand-held mazes with the tiny metal ball inside. I was outside on the curb in front of the house playing with it one day when the girl from the corner house across the street came over and decided to talk to me out of nowhere. We got to talking and it turned out that we got along pretty well. The one and only thing I distinctively remember from that conversation was that she said something about her house's chimney, but she pronounced it "chi-muh-ney"; so naturally, me being the smartass I was even then, I had to make fun of her and pronounce it "chin-o-me"...which of course lead to chin jokes galore, etc. Her name was Michelle Baker.
Before too long, we were hanging out pretty regularly. She and her brother, Willie, were also friends with the kids who lived next to them, so all of us hung out and played together from time to time. The Bakers weren't allowed to have people in their back yard or cross the street, so we'd usually play in their front yard or in their neighbors' front yard. Before too long, one way or the other, she became my "girlfriend". We'd even walk home from school together holding hands most days.
Some time in December, her friend Lesslie started coming around sometimes, too. Sometimes I wouldn't catch Michelle after school and would end up seeing Lesslie somewhere, so I'd walk with her and all we'd do was argue (which is hilarious, retrospectively). I happened to find Lesslie riding her bike one day as I was riding mine and followed her just to be a pest, which turned out with us ending up back at her house and then back at mine -- of which all I remember is Mom offering her a banana. After that, we decided she was my girlfriend. So for a brief while, I had two.
One day, Michelle, Michelle's neighbors, and I were playing in her neighbors' back yard. Somehow, the idea of kissing Michelle came up (probably because she was my girlfriend). Then it became a challenge. So Michelle and I went to her neighbors' front porch. It was COLD. Every time we'd nearly get up the courage, one of the other kids would creep up from the back yard -- so eventually one of us got the brilliant idea to hide ourselves underneath my heavy coat so they couldn't see us. I still remember the kiss and the moments underneath that coat vividly. Needless to say, Lesslie was pretty displeased when she found out.
The next thing I remember with Michelle was when her family got a big trampoline a few years later. It went in the back yard, so naturally, the kids were allowed to have people in the back yard by then. I went over there and played on it almost every day for a long time.
We'd occasionally cross paths over the next few years and regain contact for a few weeks, or months, but it would slowly fizzle out. There was one point in high school when one of her classes was near my study hall classroom, so she'd sneak a visit for a while -- and my teacher was perfectly okay with it. She gave me her yearbook picture that year and it said on the back that I was her best friend. I hadn't quite developed a sense of what that statement truly means yet, so it didn't mean a lot at the time other than, in my mind, she liked me the most of her friends.
One day, when I was 17, she found me on the way out of school and we decided to walk home together. As we walked across the giant field between the school and our neighborhood, one of Michelle's enemies decided that was a good time to kick her ass. So the girl basically came up from behind her, took her maybe 20 or 30 feet away from me and went to town. It was like watching a game of Double Dragon or something. I was so much in shock (and afraid of getting my own ass beat) that all I could do was stand and watch. Once the girl decided she was finished, she pretty much just left Michelle there and went on her way.
The very next thing I remember is walking through the field with our arms on each other's shoulders, heading to the middle school rather than to our neighborhood, to go to the nurse's office. I don't remember how it went, but after a while, I stopped out and waited for her in the main office, then walked home with her.
We'd see each other occasionally and we'd talk about how she was recovering, what was going on at school with the girl, etc. Michelle's mom ended up taking the girl to court. And I was Michelle's witness.
We might have met once or twice after that -- and I specifically remember finally being allowed into Michelle's house briefly (no one was ever allowed in), but otherwise, that was the last I ever saw of her. The Bakers moved away shortly after that and then we moved away shortly after they did. That was 1997.
Occasionally, when there'd be some new site like Classmates or Myspace or that kind of thing, I'd search for Michelle, but I had no real basis for how to sort out whether one of them was her or not, so it was a pretty futile move. Sometimes I'd just want to see how she was doing, sometimes I'd see that picture from high school and miss her, sometimes I'd go through all the people I knew then and eventually get to her on my list, etc....but it was all moot since I never found her.
Recently, I went through the process of making my big mix CD with songs for each of the important people and moments in my life, and actually contacted the people themselves to tell them what they meant to me. Still no sign of Michelle.
About a month ago, I was adding a lot of people from my old school class on Facebook, and as a result, Facebook would suggest "People I Might Know" based on people I'd added. It suggested Willie Baker.
Bingo.
I contacted him and we went over some nostalgia from living near each other, then started catching up on what life is like these days. He mentioned he was thinking about moving back around this area some time next year, and then mentioned he might be bringing Michelle with him. I was very pleasantly surprised. Somehow it came out that she lives about 20 minutes from him now, so I told him to tell her hi for me, but really thought nothing of it.
He sent me a message today saying she was "excited" to hear we'd talked and that she said for him to give me her phone number...but I wasn't around when he sent the message, so I don't have the number yet.
Over the years, I've learned what it really means to be someone's best friend, and what she probably meant when she said it. I also had the experience a few months ago of creating the mix CD thing and bringing all the most important or influential people from my past "together" to bring with me into the rest of my life. I think now is the best time for us to be reconnecting, because I'd like her to know that I finally realize what she felt for me back then and that I'd like to have that into the future. I'd like to reach out and connect with her the way she seemed to be trying to reach out to me back then.
But even if the phone call doesn't become all or any of that, hey, at least I get to talk to Michelle Baker again.