Deb and I knew each other in 3rd grade but it wasn't until 5th grade that we became best friends. We have remained friends through all these years (with several spans of losing touch). She lives in North Carolina and I live in Michigan but the computer keeps us connected. We know the other one is only fingertips away.
I can honestly say, lo, these many years later, it was because of her next door neighbor that we became close friends. I went to the Carnival at Bigelow Field in Home Acres (a small carnival but a big event for us kids) with Janet Perez. One ride on the Scrambler and she was on the sidelines puking. So I looked around for someone I knew would ride the HAMMER with me (there were a lot of people I knew but only a few who would brave the HAMMER). I spotted Deb in a group. She stood out because she was wearing a skirt and she had her arm in a cast. Both of these points added terror to the ride. I asked, she agreed and we climbed aboard.
The HAMMER was made up of two hammers with seats in each side of the hammerhead. So I guess 8 people can ride at a time. The hammers swing back and forth, passing each other, gaining momentum until they swing up and over and down. Of course the up, over and down is the wonderfully terrifying part of the ride. Except once we went up and over, Deb's skirt went up and over her head scaring the snot out of her. Her arms flew up and the one with the cast smacked me hard in the face. I was stunned (literally) and she was scared stiff she had hurt me. When I realized nothing was broke, I started laughing .... laughing so hard I was practically crying. She started laughing, too. When we got off the ride we were holding onto each other and laughing but everyone thought something was wrong. The group of kids she was with earlier came up to her and... that's when I noticed him! Himmm
The next day at school she told me he thought I was 'cute'. Omigosh! He thought I was cute. A 7th grader thought I was CUTE! So I started going over to her house to visit her and to sneak peeks at ... Doug ... maybe even talk to him.
What started out as a fluke turned out to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship...actually quite a few different relationships. Some of which still touch my life, my heart and soul.
The Berends and the McClains were my family. They were there in good times and bad. I spent more time at their homes than I did at my own (with good reason...but another day, another story) and they made me feel as if I belonged there with them.
Next post will be a tribute to a very special person in my life... Kathy... Doug's sister... my confidant, mentor, lifeline, and friend (every teenager should have a "Kathy" in their lives).
3 comments:
Debbie here.
Hmmm...I remember things just a tad bit differently. I got the cast on my arm from jumping over the bushes between my house and Doug's house. We were trying to see who could jump over them without hitting the tops. You were there when I did it. And Nancy Brown. And at least a dozen other kids ( okay most of them were Berend's).
I read the next blog, too. I remember going to Mary Jane's a lot, but the pool table was in my basement. I also remember spending a lot of rainy days in the Berend's basement singing along to the record player that had a short in it. Remember how we used to get Dwayne to give himself shocks all the time?
Just went out to have a smoke. Did some thinking an the pool table. We had a standard table in our basement. Mary Jane had a bumper table in her's ....I think. We liked to go over to her house because it had an upstairs. They were (more or less) the 'rich' people. And she had a couple of older brothers that were very good looking.
The field we played in was between our house and Mary Jane's ( untill they moved a house there when I was about 15). It was flatter and bigger than the one beside Mary Jane's. Besides, the people that lived on the other side of that one would yell at us every time we tried to play there.
Do you remember every summer we would walk over to the pool to swim....at Godwin School? It was a long walk, but oh so worth it.
That's just my rememberings. By the way....that Faygo song....I find that running through my head a lot. All I can recall is the tune and....."That's why we make Faygo". Oh, and something about Hoola Hoops.
Ah, memory...such a fickle, and personal thing. The past is as maleable as the future. Over time, details get lost and events blur together. That's what's great about maintaining long term friendships...you have a kind of checks and balances system for your memories.
You should watch The Final Cut with Robin Williams. It's a subtle SciFi flick about memory.
Debbie: I am adding your comments to a blog entry and will respond in it.
Jaek: We have had this discussion about memory... enough said... see next blog entry.
I have seen Final Cut with Robin Williams. Did not like it. Mostly because it was a boring venue for Robin Williams and I kept waiting for him to do something funny. I need to watch it again with a different attitude. Maybe then I would like it better?
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