Attention potential Googlers: This blog belongs to the girl formerly known as Andrea Bartunek. I grew up in Bramalea and went to Dorset Drive PS (grades K – 6), followed by W.G. Davis (7-8) and then J.A.Turner SS (grades 9 – 13) in Brampton.
Last night I had one of those long Googlefests. You know the kind. I’m not the only one who’s done it. I looked up every friend and boyfriend I could remember having during my early school years.
I don’t want to bud into these people’s lives, but I’m curious to know what they’re up to. And don’t go talking to me about Classmates.com. It’s such a rip off. [Edited to add: please note this post was written pre-Facebook!]
I would love to know what the following people are up to:
Petra Schultz – one of my best friends in elementary school. A freckle-faced girl with straight red hair. I loved her mom. She always had great birthday parties. I remember buying her strange and wonderful gifts and wrapping them in layers of paper. She had a hamster and her mom always put coins in the birthday cake. She would have made make a perfect teacher. [ETA: she’s a teacher at our old elementary school! Wow!]
Megan Ellis and Francesca Wong – The three of us hung around for most of our elementary school years. They discovered boys before I did, but I remember singing along to Abba and playing foot hockey. Francesca moved to Edmonton. I called her one Christmas and, not realizing the huge time difference, woke up her entire family.
Steven Cecchetto/Ceccetto/Checetto/Cecceto (sp?) and his sister Cathy. They lived down the street. I had a mad crush on Steven starting from grade one onward. We mostly expressed our love by pummeling one another. Steven was dark haired like his father. (I remember his dad mowing the lawn with no shirt on, he was pretty hairy.) Cathy was blonde like her mom. Cathy is a couple of years younger than me. When I was in grade two we played school so often that I ended up teaching her everything I knew. She skipped kindergarten. [ETA: Steven is in pharma sales. Cathy is a teacher… !]
Chris S. – High school boyfriend for about a year. It wasn’t a good match, and frankly I’m not even sure how it all came about. I was the smart quiet girl, he was the loud guy who hung around the auto shop. He took me to his grad, a boat cruise in the Toronto harbour. He got drunk and the captain of the boat wasn’t going to let him on board. Oh man.
Walter Macri – Ah. Walter. When it was my 16th birthday you showed up at my work with a pink plush bunny rabbit. I was dead embarrassed to be seen in my blue polyester cashier uniform, but I got over myself long enough to enjoy the moment. We went to see the Nutcracker at Christmas. We dined up top in the C.N. tower restaurant and almost didn’t make it home because we ran out of money. Had a voice like honey and loved to sing. I wonder what you’re doing. I bet you are a doctor.
Why do these memories seem like a disconnected dream?
Ross Taggart – Redheaded and smart as a whip. And was not afraid to speak up. Alas, his heart always belonged to another. Besides, he was totally out of my league. Ross is probably a lawyer. [ETA: So Ross married his HS sweetheart. I was so thrilled to hear it. Clearly they were destined to be together :) ]
The girls who all went on a road trip to Florida:
Martine Mackenzie – Martine was my best friend, and as I sit here and think about it I realize that in many ways she shaped who I am today. She was the daughter of a French teacher. She wrote poetry. She was an artist. Was smart and sassy. We were in French immersion together. I remember her and I speaking our own language: a type of franglais (French/English mix) that probably sounded ridiculous, but somehow … it made me feel less awkward. I’ve heard that Martine is a French teacher. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.
Bettina Carius, Karin Mueller, and Tiffany Cameron [FOUND! She works at a pharmaceutical company as a sales coordinator/meeting planner.] Tiffany was a bubbly high-school friend and lovely girl all around. Tiffany was always smiling. She had really cool parents who hosted the breakfast after grad night.
There are more: Reshma Brahspat [found!], Shelley Holseth, Ande Smith, Jared Spice, Jinelle Webb (HI!), Eric and Roisin Peters (HI!), Kristina Barr [Found! She’s an actress!], Roopin Hanspal [found!}]…. there are more but I’m forgetting.
If you are any of these people and happen to come across this site, please leave a comment and let me know what you’ve been up to. :)