The Magic of Facebook

Most of my family and friends are on Facebook. I use that more to keep in touch with people than email. I know some people can't bear the site but for me it works well. When family members first started contacting me on Facebook, I felt a bit nervous as it was as if my two worlds - family and friends - was about to collide. But seeing that some family members are like friends and some friends are like family, I've let them all sit happily side by side on Facebook.

This week Facebook has been particularly magical for me! I've found my first ever friend on Facebook - after about 27 years of no contact. Aylin and I lost contact when she moved to America, I think we were about 12 at the time. We'd gone to different schools at 11 so had been seeing less of each other anyway but for three years at Dulwich Hamlet Junior School we were best friends and if you saw one, you'd usually see the other. We met when we found ourselves sitting next to each other in Mr Phelps' class in the second year. I think we became instant friends. For me it was particularly important as I'd gone through nursery, infant school and a year of junior school without making any friends and I was starting to worry about why this was. Growing up with two sisters, I'd always had playmates and the need had never arisen to make friends. But once at school, I didn't seem to make friends - I had classmates who I could invite to birthday parties but I never felt like I had a best friend. Being a child prone to worrying about her world, this concerned me. Therefore I was obviously overjoyed when I found myself with a best friend!

I remember playing together a lot and sometimes getting into trouble together. There is one incident I vaguely remember when we both got sent out of Mr Phelps' class for giggling. It had been snowing outside and we had to wait out in it. One or both of us suddenly felt the urge to pee and had nowhere to go so we peed in the snow and watched it turn yellow. I think we both fell about laughing even more.

At the age of 11, we went off to different schools. Aylin went to James Allen Girls School and I got sent to Waverley. It was a traumatic time for me, not only being sent to a school away from my best friend but also to a school that I didn't want to go to, the local comprehensive where if you managed to leave at 16 without having 3 kids with as many dads, you were doing well! As for going to university, that was a dream that most Waverley girls didn't even consider - well you don't if your life consists of pushing a pram around on a south London estate. We kept in touch a bit once we changed schools but when she moved to America with her family, we lost touch.

Over the years, I've wondered how Aylin is, what she's up to. Every time I drove past her old house, I'd look at it and think of all the times I'd spent there. I always thought it would be lovely to find her again and catch up on all that she's been up to but I didn't know where she was or how to contact her. I've recently been in touch with another school friend from that time and it was so good catching up on our very different lives that I thought I'd look for Aylin again. A quick search on Google and a Facebook profile with the same name popped up. I sent her a message to find out if it was my best friend from childhood, fingers crossed hoping that it was. And today, when I logged on there she was going "OH MY GOD!" in her message! Which is exactly what I thought when I saw the message from her. I am absolutely overjoyed to have found my childhood friend - we've now got 27 years of catching up to do! I can't wait!