I used to hang out with Jacquelyn almost every day. We talked about everything. Growing up, she was a good friend of mine.
But that was 20 years ago, and time separates a lot friendships. Technology allows us to keep tabs on life's developments.
And that's what happened here.
From her home in South Carolina, Jacquelyn had flown to Oakland for a conference. As she was settling down for a nap in her hotel room, she opened Facebook. The first post she saw was from me. It was an article I had written for Ripple.
She immediately messaged me.
I drove Jacquelyn to school every day for a year. She was a sophomore, I was a senior. I drove a red, 1991 Honda CRX. Two seater. Badass, I know. She was my girlfriend's best friend, so I saw a lot of her. Since my sophomore year in college, I had only seen Jacquelyn twice. This was our third post-graduate meeting.
I met her on the last day of the conference at the Marriott in downtown Oakland. In the lobby, we shared a giddy embrace. You know, a long hug with more giggles than actual words. We took BART and chatted on our way to our first stop: Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen on 24th Street in the Mission, my favorite lunch spot in San Francisco. We talked some more. After sandwiches and french fries, we walked to Dolores Park. There we basked in the sunshine, using our bags as pillows with nothing between our clothes and the grass. We took turns sharing the things we've done and seen, as well as the things we want to do.
She supervises a South Carolina office for the Social Security Administration. She has three kids. She's still married to Todd. The last time I saw her was 13 years ago at their wedding.
We still like talking to each other.
After the park, we went to Mission Pie for pie and coffee. I had a slice of walnut; she went with apples and blackberries. Both were delicious.
Shaq D — that was my nickname for her; she was a defensive hound in basketball and softball — was a really good girl in high school. I'm not going to suggest I was a bad boy (shout out to Diddy, though), but one of the few good qualities we had in common were our grades. I wondered aloud: how did her parents, both educators, trust me to pick her up and get her to school every day. Maybe it was because, as a Teacher Cadet, I parked in the teacher's parking lot.
"They knew I would make a good decision," Jacquelyn told me. "I've always been that way. Besides, you were always good around me."
She made another good decision by contacting me. I know we'll be seeing a lot more of each other. We now follow each other on Instagram.
Instead of having her take a cab to the airport, I offered to drive. Yeah, it was just like old times.
We took a few selfies along the way.
If only we had cell phones way back then.
