MARSEILLE, France — A Johnson County woman who traveled to Paris to experience the Olympics in person also experienced a special reunion decades after high school.
The Olympics always bring together athletes and tourists from around the world.
But it's been especially memorable for Hoosier Elaine Pesto.
"It really was a dream come true," she said. "It's something we've been planning for several years."
Pesto and her family not only watched the opening ceremony and witnessed Olympic competition in person, the Games also let her reconnect with someone from her past.
"I jumped at the chance to be able to see her when I knew that we would be here," Pesto said. "And it's the first time I've been to France since 1985."
She shared a photo with 13News from 1985.
It shows Pesto at age 17, a junior at Bloomington South High School, next to Marietta, a 16-year-old sophomore in France.
Marietta was part of the French host family Elaine stayed with as a foreign exchange student.
"She is just a very joyful person, very energetic and very positive. I stayed with them, had never met them before, but she and I got to know each other pretty quick because we spent a lot of time together," Pesto said.
But after high school and that meaningful trip, they lost touch.
It took another extraordinary experience 39 years later to meet again.
"When we had the opportunity to go to the Olympics, we knew we had tickets, I thought, 'I'm gonna reach back out. I'm going to try to find her,'"
Thanks to social media, she did.
And on Sunday, not far from the athletic venues in Marseille, Elaine and Marietta had a mini high school reunion over lunch.
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"I kind of knew what she was going to look like and her English was way better than I was expecting. She was very nervous about that. And we pretty much talked the entire time," Pesto said. "She said to me, 'I wasn't sure what I was going to say to you,' and I just said to her some version of, 'It doesn't matter, we're together again.'"
They met each other's families and reminisced about their teenage years, including one memory that made them both laugh.
"Our teachers, one of the things they suggested we bring to the French students was Jell-O," Pesto said. "It was just something that they didn't have here in France. I know, weird! And she remembered that and at lunch, she was like, 'Do you remember?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I do remember bringing that!'"
The two women pledged to stay in touch this time.
Pesto said finding her friend in Paris came with a life lesson, too: Take the trip. Create the connection. Make the memories.
"Be intentional," she said. "Put yourself out there, you have nothing to lose."