Love in Many Genres

Love in Many Genres

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Love in Many Genres
Love in Many Genres
Unearthed Photo: Where Do Lost Friends Go?

Unearthed Photo: Where Do Lost Friends Go?

Can We Find Our Old Friends? Should We?

Alexandra Hidalgo's avatar
Alexandra Hidalgo
Feb 26, 2025
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Love in Many Genres
Love in Many Genres
Unearthed Photo: Where Do Lost Friends Go?
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The Unearthed Photo images are for everyone. The stories that go with the images are for paid subscribers. Whichever you are, thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy it!

A girl has blown the four candles on her profiterole birthday cake. By her side is another girl who looks at the cake. It’s night time. Behind them is a wall with ivy.
Who can resist a profiterole cake? Not Barbarita and certainly not me!

Barbarita was my best friend during the year my mom, dad, and I lived in New York. Her name was Barbara, but that was a daunting name for a three-year-old to carry, so I always think of her by her nickname: Barbarita. I don’t know by what name Barbarita thinks of me. If she thinks of me at all. She may have forgotten me. And yet, she was the first friend I ever had. A beloved friend I met in 1980 and whom I haven’t seen in four decades. Sometimes I wonder if I should try to find her. What would we gain from such a meeting? What would we lose? The legacy of one’s earliest friendships is precious, almost sacred—and Barbarita left quite a legacy.

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