Tribute to a childhood friend

MELISSA JAMES SALMON
November 30, 1968 - May 7, 2022
(Click for obituary)

We grew up in Indianapolis together, a couple of Winston Drive kids in one of the city’s middle class neighborhoods near Arlington High School on the city’s Northeast side. My family moved to 5701 Winston Dr. the summer between my fourth and fifth grade years.

A few houses down towards the cul-de-sac was the two-story James residence. Melissa was 2.5 months younger than me and one of my first neighborhood playmates. I was just beginning to notice girls, but we were too young for romance. I’d spend time playing in her room upstairs and her family was always warm and welcoming.

Before long, my favorite playmate was leaving the neighborhood, the city, the state for good. I don’t remember any teary goodbyes but I always had fond memories of Melissa, her amazing smile, her dimples and her friendship when I was literally the new kid on the block.

Some years passed, nearly a decade, and there was a knock on our front door. Mom told me there was someone here to see me, but didn’t say who. I wasn’t expecting anyone. I walked downstairs and turned towards the open front door, and through the screen I saw that bright, warm smile and those dimples. She was no little girl, but a beautiful young woman, a teenager finishing high school. I was blown away!

The family had come back to Indy from New Jersey for a visit, circa 1985. I met Melissa on the porch and then we walked down the street past her old house, catching up and recalling old times. It was a wonderful, but much too brief visit. Then she was gone again, like a flash of warm sunlight.

I lost touch with her for many years, then social media bridged the gap. Now married with kids, Melissa was about to relocate with her family to Central Florida. I was in Tallahassee with a family of my own. We kept up a casual acquaintance online with vague future plans to someday meetup. We watched each other’s kids grow up on Facebook. That was until I lost my account last year.

Fast forward to October 2023 and I have only been back on Facebook a few months. I’d failed to reconnect with so many old friends, focusing on new ones and building a following for my online newspaper on Fort Myers Beach. Well, who shows up in my friend requests, but Melissa’s mother, Linda James. I asked her to give my regards to her daughters. The whole family was now in Florida, I learned.

But it was only TODAY that I learned of Melissa’s sudden death. Linda’s message to me read, “Melissa passed away last year unexpectedly, but she talked about fun times with you all on Winston Dr…”

I was floored.

How did I not know? Why didn’t I keep in better touch?

Melissa flourished into a beautiful woman, wife and mother. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her life through photos and other online content. I admired her greatly. I’m not sure I ever got the chance to tell her how much, though I often told her what a shock it was to see her through the screen door in the 80s. I remember it like a scene from a movie, me moving for the door in super slow motion.

Rest in peace my dear friend. You were dearly loved.

Melissa and husband David in 2017