Lost and Found

It's truly amazing how many people we come in contact with in our lives, the memories we share with them, and the ability to utilize today's technology to find those people we've lost touch with over the years. All I know, is that even five years ago, I wouldn't have been able to find people like I can today.
Most people who know me are aware of the fact that I grew up in Papua New Guinea as a small child. My father, a Lutheran minister, decided to become a missionary there in 1984, moving us to the other side of the world to experience a truly amazing kind of life. For our first few years there, my brother and I were home-schooled, then later attended Katherine Lehman School (aka K.L.S.) which was a boarding school that sadly closed five years after we left PNG.  Having moved there when I was only four years old, I spent much of my childhood there, moving back to Ohio when I was about nine. I soon lost touch with my friends there, since many of them who were M.K.'s themselves, moved back to their home countries as well. I often thought of them, wondering where they were in the world, and wishing I could find them.
Twenty-two years have now passed by in the blind of an eye, and now thanks to modern technology, I've been able to find some of them through Facebook and networking sites. It's incredible how fast time can pass by and before you know it, you're all grown up with families, jobs, and vastly different life experiences. My memories are so vivid in my mind, and I can clearly remember my life back then. It seems like only yesterday that I was running barefoot, speaking Pigin, and being only one of two American kids at a boarding school on the other side of the world. Although the blonde haired little girl running barefoot and chewing buai has faded into a distant memory, finding these long lost friends has reminded me of her again, making me realize that our younger selves are always a part of us. Sometimes, that's a great thing to be reminded of.