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Just A Little Terror

So I have this mild paralyzing fear of insects/multi-legged creatures. According to my parents, it began when I was about a year old; they heard piercing I’m-being-murdered-by-a-man-with-an-axe screams and went rushing to my crib, only to discover that I was being terrorized by the much-feared musca domestica (common housefly). And despite my crippling phobia, my loving parents frequently took me camping. It was, if I recall, absolute hell: I lived in a constant state of terror that a daddy long-legs would make its way past the mesh door of our tent.

And then in fourth grade, this all – quite miraculously – changed with the arrival of our new science teacher, Howie. Over the course of that year, I brought home a variety of pets that I previously wouldn’t even have considered looking at, let alone touching, including a crayfish (pictured above), a turtle, a snake, a snail, a frog, and a few mealworms…all, inexplicably, named Sammy (I was an odd child).

When MyLife.com, America’s #1 people search engine, offered me the opportunity to search for a mentor with whom I’d lost touch, I immediately thought of Howie. I found out that he’s still living in New York City, and still showing kids just how non-lethal the average musca domestica is. Had I searched for him on Facebook, MySpace, or any other single social media outlet I imagine it would have been near-impossible to locate him, given the limited information I have, but with MyLife I was able to learn what he’s been up to immediately. Awesome. Now if only I could find my first-grade crush…

MyLife

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