Girl, 20, Makes Viral TikTok About 2nd Grade Classmate Named 'Forever Young.' Then Forever Responds in the Comments (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

The 2nd grade class with Forever Young and Maggie Pettyjohn.Photo:Maggie Pettyjohn

Maggie Pettyjohn

Maggie Pettyjohn was having an otherwise ordinary day when a song reminded her of an old classmate — one with a unique name.

Like many 20-year-olds, the Bloomington, Indiana, native took to TikTok to share her recollection.

“Every time I hear this song and remember I was in a 2nd grade class with a girl named Forever Young,” Pettyjohn wrote in the video, which shows her listening to the 1984 Alphaville song, “Forever Young.”

“She literally left after 2nd grade and never heard from her again,” she added in the caption.

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Many weighed in on the post, with some offering that Pettyjohn’s classmate is “actually forever young in your memories too,” since she hadn’t seen her in so long.

Young also reached out to Pettyjohn privately, explaining where she went after the two were in school together.

Maggie Pettyjohn.Maggie Pettyjohn

“She reached out to me after she saw the video and we talked about how she moved to Maine after second grade and how she remembered me and the class,” Pettyjohn said. “We bonded over some random memories of our class and how we’ve been, too.”

As fate (or social media) would have it, Young had seen the video after it made the rounds on TikTok, where it has so far been viewed more than 4.5 million times.

In afollow-up video also posted to TikTok, Pettyjohn detailed how she reconnected with Young, saying that she had always “wondered what happened to her” every time she heard the “Forever Young” song.

“We ended up finding her through TikTok, so that was really great,” Pettyjohn said in the follow-up video. “We had a really nice conversation, she was super sweet, is so nice still.”

Pettyjohn continued: “She actually ended up saying that she did remember me, and she remembers that class. It was really great. So, thank you, TikTok for finding Forever Young.”

source: people.com