Over the last few weeks, I’ve been calling these stories where Dorothy runs into new friends and brings them along on her journey the “pick-up stories.” A bit different from pick-up lines, except that they are the origin stories of these friendships that build over the course of the movie. Origin stories like those of a couple that is married or the birth of a child are often told and retold over a lifetime, but I’d venture to guess that many of us also have origin stories for our friendships, especially those deep friendships that carry us through thick and thin.

I can remember the pick-up story of my first best friend, Alexis Kerschner, from when we were about 4 years old.  My family had recently moved into a brand new town house on High Beam Court in Columbia, Maryland. While we were eating dinner one night, my sister’s eyes got huge and she pointed out the window she was facing, causing us to turn and look through it.  There was a growing fire in the dumpster in the middle of the neighborhood parking lot. After calling 911 to report it our family went outside to watch the action along with a number of other families. And that’s where we met the Kerschners. Most of my early childhood memories are involve our two families together.