All of us had that friend growing up. The one that lived in your neighborhood, went to the same school and that you would hang out with during the vacation breaks and summers.
My friend would sit with me at the bus stop at the bottom of the hill every morning at 7:10, waiting for the west side bus to pick us up for our 35 minute ride to junior high and then later, high school. He was uber-smart and I quietly competed against him. We often passed the time shooting hoops, swimming or playing video games.
But slowly, as the years passed and we got older, new friends, full time access to a car and joining different sports and after school activities slowly caused us to drift apart. Then both of us went off to college, wishing each other the best of luck, not really knowing when the two of us would connect again.
We inadvertently kept tabs on one another, finding out how the other was doing through “friends of friends”.
Today, I live 3,000 miles from my high school. Luckily, I still feel connected to the school because of its outstanding school magazine and alumni office.
But imagine having the power to make those connections on your own, in real time.
The first time I opened the EverTrue app I must say that the feature that most intrigued me was the “nearby” function (discover the alumni in your area). Most tools today like alumni directories and social platforms enable you to discover whether an ex-classmate lives in the same city and state.
EverTrue allows you to go one step further by helping you discover whether an ex-classmate lives in your neighborhood, which it turns out in the case of my old neighborhood friend, he did…literally down the street.
This discovery that my old friend lived a mere 3-iron away was exciting and brought back a flood of memories. We have fallen into new but very familiar patterns. We are still catching up on each other’s stories (20 years worth) and introducing the families. Our kids have already played a game of nerf basketball together and I am looking forward to getting the families to hang out this summer. It has been great spending time with someone that really “knows” me.
I recently found another classmate of mine within in striking distance of my neighborhood. About time I reached out to say hello.
Tarlin Ray is a graduate of Harvard Business School, a business strategist and consultant living in Boston, and an alum of EverTrue client Harvard-Westlake School. In this post, he describes how EverTrue allowed him to rekindle a childhood friendship that had been dormant for over 20 years.