On a whim, I recently tried to reconnect with an old friend using one of the popular social networking sites. Not being a member, I had to send an anonymous email without any obvious proof of who I was. In response, like the "secret question" you have to answer when you forget your password, he asked what I had once given him for a birthday present in order to prove my identity. Fair enough. Here is my story:

We met during my first couple of weeks in college. As far as guys were concerned, he...