On a sunny Saturday in the fall of 1989, four tailgating Richmond seniors — Jennifer (Gracy) Candotti, Robin Clark, Angie (Darling) Carrano, and Robin (Miller) Garrison gathered to take a photo. They had just returned to campus after summer break and were looking forward to their senior year. Back then, the football team played in a downtown Richmond stadium. But those moments were more about getting together, they said, than the game itself.

"Tailgates in the parking lot before a Richmond football game were a tradition that we all looked forward to," said Candotti, who majored in art history.

It was the first home game of the season, and as the four stood together, they captured a moment in time at Richmond. "I’m pretty sure the white dress with stripes I’m wearing was borrowed from Robin C.,” said Carrano, an accounting major.

The women had no idea that this single frame would become a symbolic snapshot of their time at Richmond or that they would recreate it decades later.

A keepsake photo endures

A history and economics major, Clark had just returned from a semester in London, and was excited about reuniting with her friends. “Looking back, life was so simple, and we had so much free time," she said.

The sense of togetherness and optimism reflected in this one photo made it stand out as a keepsake for the friends for more than 30 years. Clark pointed out that in the late 1980s, students didn't have access to hundreds of photos on iPhones.

"We had disposable cameras," Clark said, "and would drop off the roll of film in the bookstore after a fun weekend. We'd cross our fingers that at least one picture would come out well."

Candotti had also spent time abroad, studying art in France that summer. That day, she wore the floral dress she brought back as a souvenir from her time abroad.

On the far right of the photo is Garrison, a business major who remembers regularly riding her bike from her apartment to the Robins School. "Walking or biking around the beautiful Richmond campus was such a privilege that I am not sure I appreciated as much as I should have at the time."

Reuniting in Italy

After graduation, the years that followed brought both successes and challenges. The four women built careers and started families. They lost loved ones and cared for aging parents. Through it all, they stayed in touch. “These girls remind me of who I was before life happened," Candotti said.

The four make it a point to travel together at least once a year.

"Even as life took us all to different states and countries, we have consistently remained in each other’s lives, attended weddings, baby showers, and have enjoyed traveling together," Clark said. "Though we may not see each other for months, when we do get together, it is like being in college all over again, except for the tailgating and late nights."

Candotti, who now lives in Switzerland with her husband, recently invited the group to their vacation home in Italy.

“Getting to share a place you love with people you love is a special joy," she said. "I loved waking up and having our coffee together as if we had just seen each other yesterday and not a year ago. Hearing our laughter echo through the house. Catching up in-depth on all our lives. And I loved seeing the face of my husband catching a glimpse of an 18-year-old me reliving my years at Richmond."

The ladies decided to recreate the favorite photo during their 2024 vacation.

In Le Marche in eastern Italy, they drank wine, visited historic towns, made pasta, and laughed like they were back in college again. Then they assembled for a photo shoot, wearing clothes that evoked the memory of that moment in time, from three decades earlier. Candotti’s husband was tasked with taking multiple photos of the friends to capture their positions and poses as they were. In the photo, Candotti is wearing the same dress she brought back from her semester in France.

A few months later, Candotti’s husband read a CNN Travel article requesting stories and suggested they submit their photo and story to the publication.

“When the CNN journalist reached out a few days later and asked to interview us, I think we were all surprised. We met over Zoom. It was a little surreal, but it was a fun experience. It inspired us to reflect on our friendship and appreciate it all the more,” she said. “I guess you could say, my husband started the whole thing.”

The article went live on the CNN site this past March.