Puchi reminded me that 37 years ago, on Valentine’s Day, we started attending the King Philip School in West Hartford. We had arrived in Connecticut the previous month, in January.

“I remember getting cards, not realizing what Valentine’s Day was and thinking how friendly the kids were,” Puchi reminisced. “Of course I couldn’t understand the American accents for another few weeks.”

I couldn’t understand the American accents either, or English for that matter. I didn’t speak any English when we first arrived, though I picked it up quickly. Puchi was my translator for the first few months.

After I learned English, I went about perfecting my American accent. I had a Fisher Price television set that played “London Bridge is Falling Down.” My mother would sing it with me from time to time, with her British Colonial-influenced English accent. “London Bridge is Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down, London Bridge is Falling Down, My Fair Lady.”

I corrected her. “No, it’s fawlling, fawlling, not falling.”

The day our school pictures were taken, my mother asked me what I wanted to wear for the big occasion. My favorite article of clothing was a ruffled pink nightgown, and I said I wanted to wear it. My mother said, “Good.” And off to school I went in my nightgown to have my first school picture taken. Fortunately it was fancy enough to pass as a dress. Puchi had the good sense to wear a stylish sleeveless white turtleneck. Here we are in our first American school pictures.