To be filed under you never know when you are making a lasting memory. I am kind of making a hobby of looking back on my life and searching for the pivotal moments that stuck way deep in the memory banks and how they influenced my development later on.

One happened 60 years ago about now when I was 10 years old in 5th grade. I remember what must have been an art class or club. I can't recall the details, but for some reason it was just me and another girl in the classroom, almost like it was after regular school or something. I always liked art classes, even though I have absolutely no natural talent in that direction. Math and science were always a deep mystery to me, and English at that age was basically just grammar rules and spelling lessons. Art seemed like the only thing was any fun that I could concentrate on for over 5 minutes.

Now even in 5th grade there was already a very clear caste system in place. The girl I was in class with was definitely a patrician and I was an untouchable in the prevailing social hierarchy. I can't recall us ever having any social interaction. She was one of those girls who was even a stunner at 10 and you knew was just going to be more beautiful with each passing year, which time proved to be true. We both set quietly doing our drawings without a word. Then she got up and stood by me and complimented me on my picture. I remember the feeling of the warm flush that enveloped me even to this day. We talked a little more after that.

Then the next day in school it was back to normal as she laughed and talked with her uppity friends, and I was back to my default position as the loner kid. Interestingly enough she pops up again in my life over the years at different times like in 'Forrest Gump', almost representing the cultural changes of different decades. We had a strange connection somehow. I have heard she had been dealing with mental health issues for many years now and I can't seem to trace her down on the internet. Luckily, I was able to ride my mental health issues into a career path of sorts.