- The Internet can be a dark place,
but occasionally there's a spot of light.
One day, I was sitting here at work at BuzzFeed,
and I get this strange email.
It's someone just telling me about their life,
telling me about how they have book club tomorrow,
how the tree outside of their window is blooming
so spring must be here, and telling me about
how their 102nd birthday is this weekend.
102nd birthday.
So I showed it to my desk neighbor, Ben,
and I was like, dude Ben, what's the deal with this email
from this lady?
And Ben looked over, and was like, wow, that's adorable.
At the end of the email, it's signed Bea.
B-E-A.
I don't believe in anything spiritual,
but my grandmother's name was Bea,
and of all the members of my family,
I would say I am the most similar to my grandma.
She was a writer, I'm a writer.
When my grandma turned 80,
I even portrayed her in a family play.
Grandma Bea was a very extremely important figure
in my life, and here I am getting this email
from a woman named Bea.
So there was something too magical about this to ignore.
I said, hello Bea, I believe you have
the wrong email address, though your book club and kitchen
both sound quite lovely.
Happy birthday, cheers, Jordan.
The magic of this was not lost on me,
but I figured I'd leave it at that.
So the next day, I get another email.
Again, she tried to email this other Jordan,
and again she got me.
So again, I let her know.
As I get more emails, I'd show them to Ben.
He'd be like, that's adorable, too!
So then the third time, Bea tried to get the other Jordan
and wrote, I must have sent with a wrong address once.
Now when I start both addresses come up.
You are my only one.
Still sunny, Bea.
That email she also meant for the other Jordan.
He was her only one, not me.
So I had to tell her yet again, hi Bea,
I'm afraid you still have the wrong Jordan.
She responded, to whoever Jordan,
I'm not sure I'll ever get you sorted out.
My 101 years has caught up with me.
And I felt so bad.
Bea was starting to get frustrated,
and I was worried she would give up
and not contact the right Jordan.
So I started looking for him myself.
My last name, spelled like it's spelled
is extremely uncommon.
Brian Imbrey, my dad.
Jordan Imbrey, me.
Aviva Imbrey, my sister.
Amber Imbrey, my sister-in-law.
Tyler Imbrey, my brother.
Mary Imbrey, my mom.
Shane Imbrey, who lives in Utah.
(speaking very quickly)
And as far as I can see, those are the only Imbreys
that exist on Facebook.
That's only eight Imbreys in the world on Facebook,
and somehow she's accidentally getting this Jordan Imbrey.
So I start looking for it without the middle E
or with an E at the beginning,
every spelling you can think of, and I can't find anything.
Then I have an idea.
Mine's Imbrey, I-M-B-R-E-Y.
And I tried searching I-M-B-E-R-Y.
Jordan Imbery.
And this guy exists.
I thought I was totally alone in this world
in terms of having my exact name,
and this guy almost has my exact name.
- My name is Jordan Imbery.
I'm 22, and I was born and raised
in Langley, British Columbia.
I currently live in Chilliwack.
I found out about Bea through Ancestry DNA.
We connected as distant relatives.
So it told us that we had a shared ancestor
in the recent past.
We got in contact.
- We've been in touch since last year, December.
She'll write me and tell me about how her day went.
She'll tell me about her book clubs,
moles that appear in her garden.
I gave her advice how to get of them.
I've never met anybody with a similar name like Imbery
or the same name.
- So I contacted Jordan Imbery on Facebook and said,
Hey, I think a 102 year old woman named Bea
is trying to contact you.
And it turns out it's right, but he's also never met her.
Frankly, I wasn't willing to just say that's the end
of this story.
So I asked Bea if she'd like to be pen pals.
Asking someone to be your pen pal is like asking them
to commit time and effort to you,
and why should she care about me?
I'm just some guy who she emailed by accident
who she has no relation to,
but luckily Bea is a very kind and social person,
and she agreed to be my pen pal, and we've corresponded
for months ever since then.
- So Bea and I have been corresponding since April,
occasionally writing each other.
She tells me all about her big extended family
and whichever grandkid's birthday is coming up
ad whatever big parties they have planned.
I tell her about my weird life making videos at BuzzFeed.
I had an opportunity through work to go to Mumbai
for awhile and Bea was actually instrumental
in helping me decide to take that opportunity.
- I think he'd enjoy Mumbai more because it's exotic
and farther from home, and maybe he
had not been there before.
- And so then I got to thinking, I've been corresponding
with Bea since April, Jordan Imbery has corresponding
with her for a while longer,
neither of us have met her in person.
Neither of us have met each other.
Why don't we do it?
We're gonna go to Bea's house.
We're gonna go to her book club.
We're gonna have a big dinner with her family,
and we're all just gonna get to know each other.
I don't really know what to expect.
- What I wanna get out of this experience
meeting Bea would probably be her life experience
of what is was like growing up in the 20s, 30s,
40s, 50s, her secret to her longevity
because I wanna live to 105.
- I'm super excited and nervous for me,
the guy with the same name as me,
and my 102 year old pen pal to all meet IRL.
- Jordan Imbery.
- Hey, Jordan Imbrey.
- Yeah, nice to meet you in real life.
- You too.
- Is it pronounced Im-berry or Im-burry or Im-berrie?
- Im-burry or Im-berry.
- But it's not Im-berrie?
- No.
- No one says Im-berrie?
- Sometimes.
- So we're different.
- I get called Im-berrie sometimes, it's not correct.
- You correct people.
You're like Im-berrie is a bullshit name.
My name is Imbery.
- Mine's a better name.
- How long has this name been in your family?
- Hundreds of years.
- Really?
Okay yours has been around longer.
Mine is an Ellis Island change.
A lot of Jews that came from Eastern Europe and stuff
would change their name so they'd sound more American.
- Pennsylvanian Dutch Mennonite roots.
They moved to Waterloo, Ontario and from there
my family went to B.C.
Her family went to Washington state.
- Any big thing you're hoping to learn from meeting her?
- I would like to learn what she's been eating
that's given her that longevity
cause I would like to make it to the year 2100.
- Okay.
You think the biggest thing she has to teach us
is how to eat healthy?
We got books on that already.
I want some profound insight about what it is
to be a human but I think that's a lot to ask of someone.
- I wanna know what it was like to I guess grow up
in the dirty thirties, too.
- What do you think it was like?
- Depressing maybe?
- She was alive during both world wars.
That's nuts.
- When she was emailing you she messaged me
and she's like I wrote your email wrong.
I've been writing this Jordan in California.
So I guess you don't know that my flowers are blooming.
I guess I don't, right?
- Did it annoy you a little bit that some other
Jordan Imbrey was coming in and starting to pen pal
with your pen pal?
- The more the merrier.
- You're a good guy.
- We're getting into the woods now.
This house?
- What's the tree that supposed to always
be blooming over here?
Oh yeah M cause their last name starts with M.
- One of the things that's crazy about being 102
is that her kids are in their 70s.
- It's Jordan and honorary Jordan, honorary cousin.
She's been looking forward to it since I think August
when you came back and started talking about it.
It has been a big deal for the family too
cause it's a big deal to her.
This is what she lives for.
Big moments.
New adventures.
- So we're hanging tight in Bea's garage
while our camera crew sets up for us to meet her.
This is Bea's car.
Kirk said she hasn't driven it since she was 99 years old.
She's now 102.
That's a long time to drive.
Let's look at that interior.
Nice red burgundy.
- Chrome trim.
- [Jordan] Chrome trim.
- Just wondering if you think Bea
is a hugger or handshaker?
- We don't actually know her.
We only know her by email.
So what's appropriate?
- Greetings.
- Is that what you're gonna say?
You're gonna say greetings?
- No.
- Mom, you got a couple of Jordans here.
- Oh.
- Why hello.
- Both Jordans?
- Yeah, this is California.
- Oh okay.
- And Canada.
- Well I could tell you that you're not the same size.
So I can tell a difference.
- So one's official and one's an honorary.
- Nice to meet you in person.
- I'm glad to meet all you people.
- Nice to meet you.
- Oh gosh yeah.
- A hug?
- Yes.
Absolutely.
You can't imagine how much excitement it's created
and I have this friend that is a deacon of genealogy.
She sent this one little email and I answered
and there you were.
That's what created all this.
- How long have you been doing book club?
- I think I've only been in about eight years.
- That's a lot of books.
- I'm not gonna finish the book this time.
I'm not reading as fast as I thought I was
and I'm just not gonna do the end of it.
- Got rid of your moles?
- Yeah there's one track left out there.
The little black box out in the far side of the lawn.
- 1915.
- What's your secret?
- I think mine's the good genes, you know?
That's just the way it is.
Just before my 100th birthday
I was going through immigration.
Man looked at my passport and looked at me
and he looked at my passport and gave it back to me.
He left his chair and came around and stooped down
eye level with me and he says were you really born in 1915?
I says I was and everybody within hearing distance
stopped and looked.
- What was your favorite decade?
- I don't know.
When I was younger I used to hope I would live
to see the 2000 on the calendar and here I am.
Gone through a lot of calendars since then.
- Could you tell us a little bit about your house?
- I moved into it in June the 10th in 1941.
My dad built the house.
- This is about Bea Matthews and this kinda sums it up.
One day this guy came by.
It was in the evening and he wanted coal, a sack of coal.
- It was a dollar a sack.
And he says I can go down at the corner
and get it for 90 cents.
I says that's the place to get it.
Well they're closed.
But you'd talk me out of 10 cents
if you could, wouldn't you?
- Bea had also made a comment about where's your husband?
I wouldn't have my wife out here doing this
and she says no but you'd chisel me outta 10 cents.
- Having lived 102 years would you say
you lived carefully?
Did you smoke, drink, stay out late?
- No I didn't do those things.
When I was growing up it was a meat and potatoes type.
That's the way people lived.
- So when you emailed me by accident the first time
and then I later asked if you would be my pen pal
did you think that was really weird?
Were you like why does this guy wanna be my pen pal?
- Well why not?
- When you were our age what were you doing?
So I'm 25.
He's 21.
I'm 26.
(all laughing)
- He's 22 now.
- I got both of our ages wrong.
So what were you doing at 22?
- Well I had just had my first child and she's 80
years old now, or almost.
- Do you remember what you were doing
when you were 26 years old?
- I don't know.
That's too much.
You figure it out.
- What would you say in your lifetime
is the biggest culture shift that you can remember?
- Well I think it's almost right now
the lack of respect that people give
that the younger generation gives to our older people
and the kids that go by here
very seldom do I ever get eye contact.
They're punching these things
and they're stuffing their ears.
- Took her to the emergency room.
We were there like til two in the morning.
Broken one and two?
- One and three.
- One and three which normally would probably be it.
So what she'd done since she fell at seven in the morning,
she went down and did her laundry twice
cause she had blood on her stuff
and she wanted to be cleaner for that.
- [Bea] Then I just learned about two days ago
that we have a unit available for me to move
into assisted living.
- [Jordan] Bea has lived in the same house
for over 70 years.
- In 1972 we bought this finished,
had a little bit of remodeling done.
It's a Washington territory.
The carpeting is all maple.
My kids'll remember skating on it with the blacks
when we'd polish it.
- What again is your relationship to Bea and to Thatcher?
- Third cousins, four times removed.
Fifth cousins, twice removed.
- [Man] So this is Bea.
- [Man] That's Bea.
- [Man] And you're here.
- [Bea] The baby in that picture is Thatcher.
- That little baby Thatcher?
- That's the dogwood right behind her.
- [Man] That's the dogwood.
- That's the legendary dogwood
that started this whole thing.
- [Bea] Can't believe it.
Who writes about their dogwood?
- Ready?
Come on fishies.
Not interested.
- Bea's gonna take us to her book club.
Jordy, has Bea talked to you a lot about her book club?
- No.
- Do you read?
- Not at all.
- Me either pretty much.
Maybe they'll inspire us to get back into reading.
- [Man] Regular or decaf?
- Decaf.
I didn't know the difference between decaf.
- So how often do you all have book club?
- [All] Once a month.
- We were both saying we're hoping you guys
will inspire us to read more.
Who chooses?
- [Woman] We all do.
- [Woman] We just wing it.
- Well we have somebody that always reads one or two.
- Is there a certain genre you guys like to stick to?
- It's the last hurrah because next month I'll be moving.
I spent two hours yesterday at Miro Gardens
answering all the questions.
- My grandmother's name was Bea.
She was a big writer and reader and a participant
in book clubs for a lot of her life.
- Did you find the author's narrative style effective?
I hadn't thought much about the style.
- [Woman] It was very readable.
- Well Dickens knew that he had a good thing going
but I'm sure he never realized the great lengths
it was gonna go to.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Woman] What you got there?
- Jordan never got the email that you meant to send him
originally which came to me so we thought it'd be fun
to have you read him the original email.
- Hi Jordan, from a new Dell computer.
Newer are supposed to be easier.
The touch is different but I'll keep at it.
The pink dogwood I see from the kitchen window
and the lilac by the front door are in bloom.
I guess spring is close.
I'm preparing for book club here next Tuesday.
There are 11.
We meet at nine a.m. and serve a light breakfast.
The book is Vanity Fair by Thackery.
The book is 640 pages small print.
I looked it up in the synopsis.
Otherwise another birthday coming next week as well.
I can't believe 102!
Oh the sun I coming out.
Time to get to work.
Have a good day.
Bea.
- That was your first email?
What were you thinking?
- Then you were confused, huh?
- Yeah.
How does it make you feel to know that this frustration
was going on just trying to talk to you?
- I feel bad.
I was okay with it as long as Bea replies
to my emails first.
- You're okay with me jumping in as long as
you get priority?
You're family, I'm not.
I'm just some guy on the internet.
- New family.
Were you aware of the names were similar?
- No, we'd never heard of each other.
- I searched my name, he would always come up
cause he's more well known right?
So he's like did you mean Jordan Imbrey?
- I swore in this one.
Damn.
I carefully checked before I sent.
Will try to find my original letter.
Bea.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Jordan] Your favorite place to eat?
- [Woman] How do you pronounce your last name?
- Imbrey.
- Im-berry.
- I propose a toast.
A toast to grandma, G.G. Bea.
- [Bea] Thank you.
- [Woman] And the Jordans!
- And Jordans.
We're very happy you being here
and being pen pals with grandma
wonderful relationship and we're all happy
that you guys are all here.
Everyone with.
- [All] Cheers!
- Could you break down for us sort of how the connection
happened one more time?
How you connected these two?
- Certainly.
We've made up her family tree and put it on Ancestry.
- [Jordan] How did that come about?
- She and I worked together and her family
has done a lot of research.
So I just had to incorporate it in to Ancestry.
Once her results came back, then it talks about matches
and anybody that has a potential match will show up
and Jordan emailed me so I said that I would contact Bea
and ask her if it was okay for them to talk
and Bea's great at doing emails and so she writes back
and that communication started.
- I just wanna say thank you to all of you
for being such generous hosts to us
and welcoming both of us as family.
He really is family.
And I'm just some guy and you're welcoming me.
- Well I'm lucky that you were both so nice.
- Jordan's a couple years younger than me
and I never had a younger sibling.
So it kinda felt like having a little brother.
- I think I'll stay in touch with Jordan Imbrey.
We've thrown out that idea.
Maybe we should switch lives.
You make windows and I make film.
I expected nothing less from the best
when meeting Bea's family and they treated us like family.
Bea's a very kind hearted person.
Fun to be around.
You'd never notice the 80 year age gap.
I feel like I talk to her like I talk to anybody.
- At the end of all of this I feel really fulfilled.
Made two new great friends.
- We spend a lot of time right now focusing on distrust
for our fellow humans.
Try hard to remember how many people are out there
who just wanna connect with other good people,
feel love and give love,
and I was really reminded of that this week.
All the internet is is a tool that connects us.
It can connect us in bad ways
but it can also connect us in beautiful ways.
- I feel on top of the world.
It's hard to tell you the lift I felt
just knowing that you have met and don't travel a lot
and to have my world come to me.
It's pretty uplifting and I know something more
is gonna happen, something good.
- Oh absolutely.
I have maybe five of you.
- I came in here feeling a little bit like worried
that I had invaded this private thing you two had had
and I could not have felt more wrong about that
once I saw how warm and welcoming you were to me
and a friendship that we developed too.
- Bea, you were everything I expected to be.
You're an amazing woman.
Jordan, you're an awesome person too
and I hope we keep in touch and you're my new
pen pal as well.
- Well I think it's great that you two have finally met.
Sounds like you each acquired a new friend
as well as I have acquired several new ones.
Both of you have lived up to my expectations
and maybe beyond a little.
- This is so nice.
- I need a hug.
And one for you.
- [Jordan] So glad to be able to come meet you, Bea.
- Oh it's fun.
I'm glad you two met.
It's been a great day.
- I like you, Jordan.
(all laughing)
That was awkward.