#15 - Melissa Beetham - July 21, 2017 - Manassas, Virginia

In the late summer of 1968, my parents purchased a house in Raleigh, North Carolina. At around the same time, three doors down, Melissa Beetham's parents also purchased a brand new house.  Melissa was born that fall and I was born a few months later in early January.   We grew up in houses 250 feet from each other and went to kindergarten, elementary school, and graduated from high school together. We were playmates when we were younger and attended each other's birthday parties.  Our parents still live in those same homes 49 years later.

Melissa and I now live a few miles from each other in Manassas, Virginia. We both have lived in the Washington, DC area off and on for about 20 years.  She just bought a new house about seven miles from me just a few weeks ago. I photographed her just a day before movers brought in all her belongings. It is neat how we have managed to live so close to each other over the years.