Best Friends Forever

This weekend I head to Illinois with hubby, son, daughter and favorite son-in-law to spend some time with my parents, grandparents, and my sister's family. While it's going to be time focused on family, I'm most excited about going to my high school's alumni banquet. Open to anyone who has ever graduated from NCOE High School (Home of the Fighting Cardinals!), it's held every year over Memorial Weekend. My dad goes every year and tells me they honor the biggies-25 years (me? whoa!), 50 years, and probably others--I've never actually been before. While it's not really a full blown reunion since less than a dozen from my class will be going, I can hardly wait to see them.

I moved away from the small town I grew up in at age 18, after going to school there from kindergarten through Senior year. When I try to tell my friends who graduated from large schools (my husband's graduating class was 800), about the bonds of growing up with a class of 55, it’s hard to explain. We had so many shared experiences--the same teachers, same playgrounds, and same corner stores. We went to the same basketball games, took driver’s ed from the same instructor who had been our grade school gym teacher—we really grew up together in a shared small world. I tell them that many of my classmates were more like my close cousins. A few of them were like my extra brothers and sisters.

When I was in the third grade, I was in Mrs. Wood’s class, at the top of the wooden stairs on the second floor of the two-story elementary school. A new little girl was introduced to the class. Well, actually two little girls—twins. They had recently moved back to southern Illinois from a some strange place up north called Walled Lake, Michigan. They had rhyming first names as many twins do, and they were cute and smart and sweet. I was always concerned about kids that were new or struggling (My dad’s constant phrase during those years was, “Always try to be nice to everybody”), and decided I would be their friend. The oldest was a little more outgoing than the other, and we became friends quickly as I remember. Later that year, she stole my boyfriend (we’d been together since kindergarten!), but despite what I might have said teasingly over the years, I really didn’t care at all—I just like being her friend. We would go on to be “BFF’s”.

Her sister and I were friends too, although often not in the same classes (they usually separate twins) and so not quite as close. But, we two firstborn “bestest buddies” hung together as friends throughout our school years and beyond. She (along with her sis) was in my wedding and I played piano for hers. We visited each other occasionally over the years, even though many miles apart. Every time it seems like we just pick up where we left off, and we vow to do better on keeping in touch. But life tugs and pulls you in other directions sometimes, and mostly we only reconnect every few years.

It’s funny how our lives have flipped-flopped in many ways. While I married young and had my first child at 21, she finished college first, married, divorced (sadly, and with no children) and pursued a career. When my kids were in high school, she remarried a quite younger man (you go, girl!) and started a family. She was in Missouri then came back to live in southern Indiana only about 40 miles from where we grew up. And the funny thing is, I now live only a few miles from that strange city called “Walled Lake, Michigan”.

I looked up her number last week and left a message saying I would be at the banquet, and hoped she’d be able to come. I missed her call back, but enjoyed hearing the southern twang, that I’ve sadly lost most of by now, on voice mail saying, “I’ll be there!”

I’m so glad I was nice to her in third grade. And I’m so over boyfriend! See you soon, BFFTTE!