Last Friday, Roxie and I were in Worthington to celebrate my brother Greg’s retirement from the banking business.

They had an open house for him at the First State Bank Friday afternoon from 1-5. When we walked through the front doors, Greg was inside greeting friends and former colleagues. There was a long line waiting to greet him.  Standing in front of us was Tim Waibel from New Ulm. Tim was Greg’s best friend when we lived in New Ulm. The last time they saw each other was in 1970 before our family moved to Madison. 

Tim and I are friends on Facebook, so I knew he was coming. Greg doesn’t have a Facebook account. Greg had no idea that Tim was coming to wish him well in retirement. This was going to be good. As we approached Greg, Tim reached out to shake his hand and said, “I bet you don’t know who I am?” The look on Gregs face was great. He didn’t recognize Tim. When Tim said his name the surprise and shock on Greg’s face was great! Two childhood friends back together!

We lived in New Ulm from 1960-70. Tim has an older brother Randy who is my age and Randy and I were really good friends as well. The Waibels lived on a farm just outside of New Ulm. We were really good friends when we were 10, 11 and 12 years old and spent a lot of time on their farm. They had go-carts and snowmobiles which we enjoyed running around on. We did farm chores and I remember the big meals Mrs. Waibel would make. Greg and I had a wonderful time growing up with Tim and Randy.

It is sad that we didn’t stay in contact with each other after we moved, but we were twelve years old. Thanks to Facebook, I am friends with Tim and I like to see his posts and pictures of his family. Childhood friends have a big impact on your life.

What about you? Who are your childhood friends? Are you still friends? Do you know where they are? Please share.