The nicest thing about this whole experience is that we get to meet again all these years later. We are no longer teenagers and we have a lifetime full of experiences to share with one another. Our friendship is for life.”

Barbara Chiosso Milella, Robertsdale High's first exchange student

ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — It’s a classic story.

From August of 1966 to May of 1967 Kathy and Barbara went from being complete strangers to best friends.

When Barbara came to Robertsdale in 1966, she literally didn’t know anybody. Kathy and her family were some of the first people she met and the two became fast friends.

“I gained a very, very good friend,” Barbara said. “I am so grateful to Kathy and her family for all they did for me.”

Kathy and Barbara shared a lot during that nine-month period 50 years ago. As can happen though, after graduation they went their separate ways.

“We tried to stay in touch, but we both became busy raising a family and making a life for ourselves,” Barbara said.

It is a classic story, but with one small twist.

After going to college and earning a degree, Kathy Cowling Shumate returned to Baldwin County, raised a family and had a successful career, but Barbara Chiosso Milella did not technically move away.

After spending a month traveling with her group of fellow exchange students, she simply went back home; to Torino, Italy, thousands of miles away.

In 1966, 17-year-old Barbara Chiosso boarded a ship and took a 10-day journey from her home all the way to Alabama to become Robertsdale High School’s first-ever exchange student through the American Field Service (AFS) Intercultural Programs.

“I also received a scholarship through Rotary International,” she said. “It was scary, but it was a great experience.”

The trip to the United States might not have been as frightening as her first day at school, Barbara said.

“The principal asked me to give a speech in front of the entire school,” she said. “I had studied French in school and really didn’t know English that well. I was very nervous, but everyone was so nice and welcomed me here.”

In addition to regular classes, Barbara said, she had a regular tutor to help with the language, and she relied on Kathy and her family to show her the area.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for what they did for me,” she said. “It was a wonderful experience.”

She says she enjoyed going to class and learning with her fellow students.

“It was a little different from what I was used to,” she said. “In Italy we studied 14 different subjects in a year. Here I had only six classes, including art and gym. We also didn’t move from teacher to teacher between classrooms like they did here.”

She was also able to witness the swearing in of Alabama’s first (and up until just a few weeks ago only) woman governor, riding in a float in Lurleen B. Wallace’s inauguration parade. Kathy, who was a majorette for the Golden Bear Marching Band, marched in the parade.

She also participated in several activities at RHS, including being a part of the 1966 Robertsdale High School Homecoming Court.

After spending a full school year at Robertsdale, Barbara graduated with 118 students in the RHS class of 1967.

She then spent a month touring the United States with other AFS students, going from New Orleans to Niagra Falls.

When she got home, she had to go an extra year of school in order to receiver her secondary diploma in Italy. She also met and married Mauro Milella, her husband of now 44 years, raising a son and a daughter.

Her son now works for an American company, while in 1994, her daughter was herself an exchange student, visiting Tucson, Arizona.

But she never forgot her time spent in Robertsdale, all the people she met and the experiences she had.

“It was such an unforgettable experience,” she said, “and I am so grateful to everyone who played a part in me being here.”

She would also never forget her first friend in Robertsdale, and Kathy would not forget her.

“When we started planning for our 50th reunion, I thought it would be great if we could have Barbara here with us,” Kathy said. So she searched the Internet and found an email address for Barbara, contacted her and invited her to the reunion.

“I was so thrilled to hear from Kathy,” Barbara said. “She’s my ‘American sister’ and of course I jumped at the chance to come back to Robertsdale and see all of my friends.”

On Thursday, April 20 two days before the reunion, Barbara met her friend Kathy again at the airport in Pensacola and the two hit it off right away.

“She didn’t have to hold up a sign or anything,” she said. “I knew right away it was her.”

Things were a little different this time around, she said. For one thing, instead of a 10-day journey by ship, this time it took less than two days on a plane.

Also in 1966, it was so expensive to call home that she was only able to do it once the whole time she was here, and then it was with the help of a benefactor.

“This time I have a cell phone that I can use to call home any time,” she said. She was even able to have face to face conversations with her husband through Skype.

The two set out to see the sights in Baldwin County, then attended the reunion on Saturday, April 22, and had more time to spend together before Barbara had to make the return trip home on Thursday, April 27.

“The nicest thing about this whole experience is that we get to meet again all these years later,” Barbara said. “We are no longer teenagers and we have a lifetime full of experiences to share with one another. Our friendship is for life.”