Old Friends

I wasn't really unhappy. The sun was in my eyes. And look: I'm holding presents!

I have known the two women next to me in the photo above for a million years.

The blond on the far right has been my friend since something like third grade. We lived next door to each other when I was in elementary school.  The reason we are standing in front of a Chinese place for this photo is that when I was a kid, we always went out for Chinese food on my birthday. Once we had a terrible fight in the middle of her driveway regarding who GOT to be the princess and who HAD to be the queen. Hair was pulled. My friend had recently broken her arm and wielded that cast like a cudgel. At the time, I swore I'd never play with her again. That lasted until she came back over to my house about an hour after the fight, knocked on our front door, and asked if I could come out.

When I was in sixth grade, we moved to a different school district. The woman in the black jacket has been my friend since  . . . what? Seventh grade? She hates it when I tell this story, but the truth is that we were standing in line at the school cafeteria, and she kept punching me in the arm. I told her, "Will you stop hitting me!" She says she just wanted to get my attention. Apparently it worked.

These two probably know more about me than my husband of 22 years. Give them a call if you want the real inside scoop.