I first met Alicia Keeton when we began attending Ankeney Junior High during our seventh grade year in 1984. I can’t remember the time or the place, or which classes we might have had together – if any. But what I do recall vividly was that Alicia was not only very pretty (as seen at right with the high hair of 1989), but very nice to everyone with whom she came in contact. That was rather uncharacteristic for most pretty girls that age – who seemed to be anything but nice to geeks like me.
Throughout our Junior High and High School years, Alicia and I were always friendly even if we were never outright friends. She was also very good friends with Jennifer Camloh, whom I had thought was the cat’s meow back at Fairbrook Elementary. So we occasionally chatted or smiled at one another in the halls, in the lunchroom, at the sock hops, or on the playground of Ankeney. She solidified herself in my adolescent mind as ‘one very cool chick.’
Since were never actually friends who hung out together, our association dissolved after our years within the walls of high school came to an end. In fact I never saw or heard from her again for almost eighteen years…until March of 2008 when we became friends again on MySpace. I was accustomed to being ‘friends’ with old acquaintances on MySpace or Facebook, and would typically exchange the usual how ya’ been? note and then never hear from each other again, but I soon found out that Alicia, now Alicia Eldridge, was a bit different.
Just as she had been extremely kind back in school, so she was still. She would often just drop a brief note wishing me a nice weekend or to see how I was doing. I soon came to really like communicating with her at least once a week. She was doing well for herself, having married her high school sweetheart Jeremy Eldridge. They had been enjoying an incredible relationship and marriage that has spanned over twenty years. We should all be so lucky.
It took over six months before we actually met up with each other. Finally on a warm Saturday, November 1, 2008, we met for lunch at T.G.I. Fridays in Beavercreek. It was such a pleasure to chat with her and enjoy her radiant smile again as we discussed the old school days, her family and husband, upcoming vacations, television (naturally), and life in general. She was even sympathetic when I attempted to treat for lunch and reached into my wallet to find that I had misplaced my credit card. That wouldn’t have been so big of a deal, but the other card I had on hand had expired. I’m sure that incident certainly reminded her of my true geekiness.
It’s always fun to be in contact with an old friend, but it’s especially nice to have a great one like Alicia. Hopefully we’ll get to meet up again sometime soon.
November 2008 will continue…
Continue to the next reunion…
Hi Brad, I enjoyed meeting for lunch and look forward to seeing you again soon. I think I must have been two to three inches taller in High School with that hair.Thanks for being so sweet.
Alicia
Alicia Eldridge
December 6th, 2008