Oh, my, what an absolute treat my sister and I had this week! We connected with Kim Brown, who was one of our babysitters when we were in elementary school.

It’s been decades since either of us had been in touch with her, losing track across all of our multiple moves. I googled her on a whim, and found an article, for which she had been interviewed, about the impact of Title IX. Deborah sleuthed out her phone number.

When she answered, I asked if she was Kim Brown, though I needn’t have. She sounded exactly the same as when we met her fifty-nine years ago.

Kim was a student in Dad’s required religion class at The George School, a Quaker prep school outside of Philadelphia. She played on the girls’ field hockey and lacrosse teams and loved to draw.

Each time Kim came over, she’d bring a poster-size drawing for us to color. She drew Christopher Robin and all of his friends as well as little girls playing outdoors and swinging from tree branches. We’d spend the entire evening coloring,

As we reconnected, Deborah recalled how well Kim recognized our individuality. We are close in age and sometimes got blurred together as our names were, “DebbieandChellie.” It was wonderful to be seen as individuals by a cool high school student.

I recalled a later visit of hers when she stayed overnight and wore a t-shirt instead of a nightie. Oh my goodness! Talk about life-changing! Telling her about what an impression it made on me cracked us both up. 😎

I don’t know what future communication there will be. I hope there will be some. Whether it is frequent, sporadic, or none at all, what a joyful moment of connection we had, recalling our mutual fondness for each other, heard through grown-up voices. 😎 🏑