Two third-grade friends thought they'd never meet again. Until Facebook reunited them.

Layla Tanksley isn’t typically one to ask for help from strangers on the internet. But for her son, James, she would try. 

“I’m trying Facebook as my last ditch effort,” she wrote in the Bloomington, IN - What's Going On? group. “If you guys maybe even think you know Brody’s parents or grandparents or whoever, please help us connect with them!”

When the Tanksley family moved away, James thought he would never see his preschool best friend again. He didn't even know his last name. But when Layla posted on Facebook, she was met with hundreds of comments offering help and wishing luck. 

“Maybe this will actually work,” she thought. Maybe the community will come together and reconnect the boys.

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Searching for a lost friend

James and Brody met when they were in preschool together at Grandview Elementary School. After, James often talked about his friend with his parents, Layla and Daniel.

The boys are both in third grade now, and the Tanksleys have lived outside of the Monroe County Community School Corp. district for years. James still talks about his friend.

“It was continuous,” Layla said. “He’d always be like, ‘My friend Brody really likes this cartoon,’ or, ‘My friend Brody used to do this.’” 

Although Layla and Daniel had heard all about Brody, they’d never met him and didn't know what he looked like. James usually just made comments in passing. But one night last month, they heard him whimpering from his bedroom. 

When Layla walked in the room, she found James hidden beneath his blankets, crying. He missed Brody so much, he said. 

Layla knew she had to at least try to find him. 

She tried calling Grandview, but administration wouldn’t give out any students’ names since James wasn’t a student there anymore. So she used the only other idea she had.

“Maybe Brody Higgins? I’m not sure,” she wrote in her Facebook post. “James can’t remember.”

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One commenter suggested she use Kirkwood Photo, which keeps yearbook photo archives of local schools such as Grandview. Layla loaded the website on her phone and scanned through the Grandview classes. No Brody.

Just as she was about to give up, Layla noticed the website’s shopping cart icon was blocking one student in the bottom right corner. She looked at the page again, this time on a desktop version, and there he was. Brody Winters. 

Layla raced back to the Facebook comments with the name, and soon enough, someone tagged his mom, Brandi Stillions — is this your Brody?

By then, it was 11 p.m., but Layla and Daniel were wide awake.

“We were almost in tears,” Layla said, “Like, we found him.”

James, who has autism, doesn’t often show physical affection, even to his parents. But when Layla showed James they had found Brody, he hugged her three times.

'It put a huge smile on his face'

Nine months ago, the Tanksleys sat in their truck in a Georgia parking lot, on the run from Hurricane Ida, knowing they may not have a home to return to.

The family already had moved to Florida twice. When they fled the hurricane, they returned to Monroe County and stayed with Layla’s aunt after learning their home had been destroyed.

They lived there for six months until they were able to buy a house in Judah. James now attends Needmore Elementary School in Bedford.

Making friends has been difficult for James because the family has moved so much. His autism and Tourette Syndrome makes it even harder.

Some of James’ classmates tease him in school. Maybe they haven’t been taught how to treat others who act differently from them, Layla said.

For Brody, though, it was never a problem. He and James became instant friends. 

When Brandi let Brody read Layla’s Facebook post, he said he remembered James. He missed his friend, too.

“It put a huge smile on his face,” Brandi said. “He’s just always out to make friends and doesn’t see anybody as any different from him. It makes me feel like I’ve done something right.”

A reunion, with more to come

When James spotted Brody at Switchyard Park a few Sundays ago, Layla expected a tearful reunion. Instead, the two acted how kids often do — a little awkward at first, then quickly behaving as if they'd never spent time apart in the first place.

For three or four hours, the boys talked, ran through tunnels and climbed a rock wall. Their faces grew red and their hair dripped with sweat, but they didn’t mind.

When the play date ended, James wasn’t upset about letting Brody go. They knew they would be able to see each other again soon, and many more times after that.

“I recognize that things are going to be different than other mothers and their sons,” Layla said about herself and James. “We’re not going to get the same lifetime of things … but as a mom, you hope that connection will be made one day. So to see that happen with Brody was just really nice.”

Contact Christine Stephenson at cstephenson@heraldt.com.