We all know Facebook works in weird and wonderful ways: You sign up, publish a few photos and, all of sudden, all sorts of people start coming out the woodwork.

Before you know it, you’ve got 180 Facebook friends, been timelined, and know whether your first boyfriend has already lost all his hair.

Talking of Facebook making the world a smaller, friendlier place, a funny – possibly extraordinary – thing happened today. A photo popped up that had been shared some 130,806 times. It was a picture of a tiny, framed charm that had been found tucked deep inside a vintage needlepoint purse.

The original poster, a mum named Sarah from Michigan, had bought the purse from a Salvation Army shop, discovered the charm and put a photo on Facebook, wondering whether it would get shared enough for someone to recognise the little girl.

This is the only scan I can find of me, a bit younger than the girl below and with shorter hair. But those bangs are a clue!

I looked at it, and did a double take.

“IT’S ME!!!!” I gasped! (I don’t normally assume random photos are all about me, but it honestly was such a likeness of me at that age.)

I consulted with my mother: “It does look like you,” she typed in reply, also astonished. “Same dress as well.” Even my brother agreed.

My late Nan used to do the most beautiful needlepoint work and the purse looks exactly like something she might have made years ago.

I’m really not sure at all, of course, and if it is me, I couldn’t tell you how the purse got to Michigan – but stranger things have happened, don’t you think?

Or perhaps the parallel universe hypothesis really is true [Sings scary sci-fi tune, da-na-na-na-na-na!].

See what you think…

This is the photo shared on Facebook – the charm pinned to the vintage purse