Friends Forever

In 1975 when I was 5 years old, my parents bought a house in San Juan Capistrano. The house was brand new and had never been lived in. I think I can honestly say those were the happiest years I ever had growing up. My room had yellow and green decor with built-in's along the wall to put all my books, toys, and what ever other things a girl of five years collects. I loved that room. I remember laying on my floor listening to my Donny and Marie album and dreaming of being in love with Sean Cassidy. We had to actually turn the knob on the TV...oh yes, TV's had knobs back then and we only had 13 channels to choose from. Oh, wait, I'm getting distracted....

As much as I loved my room, the absolute best thing about that house was the neighboors. Just within a few houses were six families with daughters just my age. Quickly we became friends and had a blast riding our big wheels up and down the street, taking turns spending the night at eachothers houses, and marching in the Swallows Day Parade with our Blue Bird troop. We had no idea we were beginning friendships that have lasted 34 years and most likely will continue until there are none of us left. I have memories with each of them. There's Tara, best friend grades 1-3, who to this day is always laughing and excited; Kim, my first best friend in kindergarten; Dani, the shy smart one; Terese, who had the first microwave of any of us and learned about life before any of us was ready; Sheila, the fun one who you never knew what to expect from; and Tiffany, the youngest of us all who had the Barbie doll looks we all loved and admired. We've grown together though grammer school, junior high, and high school. After that we all drifted in and out of circulation with eachother and some live far away now. Terese is in Bend, OR and Sheila is in Virginia. No one knows where Tiffany is, and I can't forget Nicole who didn't live on our street but was part of our group none the less. Kim, Tara, Dani and I now we have kids of our own and we are enjoying this stage of life with each other having play dates and celebrating birthdays. Tara, Kim, Nicole and I try to meet once a month at El Torito in the harbor for Taco Tuesday. Someday I hope we'll be enjoying eachother's company while telling stories of our grand children together.

I'm lucky to have them in my life. It's rare to have a friend who has known you as long as you can remember but even rarer to have as many as I do.