Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Flowers and Friends

I am a day or two behind here, but please still consider this post to be a Taraday celebration.

First things first...I just got some flowers and here they are sitting on my desk!One of my little storytime people gave them to me this morning. The mom said she hoped I had a garden I could put them in. Technically I do have a garden. I just neglect it quite a bit. Still I can always stick these in the ground and see what happens. For now they are looking and smelling purty on my desk.

Second, reading Tara's "First Best Friend" post made me nostalgic. Now I want to reminisce about my first best friend. NT was my across the street neighbor. She had an older brother, who I had a crush on at various times growing up, and an older sister, who was sort of a hippie chick. She eventually had a daughter and named her Sunshine, okay? Anyway, I met NT when I was about three...she was a year older and several years wiser. It always seemed like she knew everything about everything! She was so daring, especially compared to me...I was always the one afraid of getting caught or hurt or in some sort of terrible trouble :-) For years, NT, me and my younger sister were inseparable pals. NT was the leader and my sister and I were her loyal followers. Her parents were that brand that seems to be somewhat particular to growing up in the 70's...very, like, swinging or something. Not too terribly attentive. NT was allowed to spend as much time as she wanted at our house, basically. We pretended we were all real sisters...oddly, I was often the one called out on it. My sister and NT had more similar coloring and somehow looked more like genuine siblings. Although NT and I stayed friends throughout our school careers, by the time we even hit Jr High we were not quite as close. Her maturity and daredevil behavior began to seem less...harmless, shall we say, once we reached a certain age. She and I began hanging out with pretty different crowds, but remained friends. By high school the ties were even more tenuous, but still existed for us. We both ended up getting married really young. I didn't have an actual wedding wedding, but she did and my sister and I were both bridesmaids. Later, she and her family moved...first to Arizona, then Colorado. Not so far, but with young families we basically didn't see each other or even talk all that often. It has actually been quite a while since we spoke. I know she is divorced and living in Colorado. Since her daughter and son are in the age range of my oldest sons, they are grown...but that is really about all I know. It is funny how incredibly clearly I can picture her face as a young girl. At one time, I probably knew her better than I knew myself. But that was a long time ago.

8 comments:

dmarks said...

I really need to keep up on my Taradays! Maybe I will do this one, even if it might be a few days late.

Tara said...

Very pretty flowers! If you didn't have a garden before, you do now, right? :) And I can of course relate to your friend post! It's funny how friends can drift apart like that, but sometimes it does happen. I was happy when my best friend from high school contacted me a few years ago. I'm going to be one of her bridesmaids!

Anonymous said...

As I read the story about NT, I kept hearing the opening riff of Hendrix's rendition of "All Along the Watch Tower"..guess it must have been the hippie chick reference.

That seems to be the case with many childhood friends. One gets older and matures, the other just continues being a child. People come and go for reasons, the fun part is trying to figure out why.

Anonymous said...

pretty flowers

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

NIcely done.. I'm sure we all have friends like that.. its sad to see them grow up and move on.. quick question? did you say you married young? Love the flowers.. so springy and cheerful..

laura b. said...

Dmarks: Yes, you should do it! Late shmate...we don't care.

Tara: Now I can have a garden, at least until I kill it :-)
I think I am more surprised by now when I actually keep a friend. I've lost touch with many more than I have actually kept up with.

Evil-E: Right era for sure :-) And you're right, kids and even adults grow and change at different rates. Sometimes there is just no keeping up.

TheySay: Hello! I don't click on ads though, k?

MrsBHW: It is sad to move on, but you're right, it happens all the time.
Well, not ridiculously young, but I met my ex right around the time I turned 21, had our first son at 22...we actually got married when our second son was one. So, I was legally married at 24 although we had been living as though married for three years at that point...is that still considered young? It seems young to me now.

Churlita said...

I wish I hadn't moved so much when I was younger so I could have established a friendship like that. I had friends for a year or two wherever we lived, but never kept track of them later.

laura b. said...

Churlita: I lived in the same house from the time I was 3 until I moved out at 20. That kind of stability has its good points, so I feel lucky there.