I Remember

I remember my aunt Prue used to always give me Nancy Drew books for Christmas and my birthday.
My Nana used to give me slips.

I remember the day we moved to California. I sat with my dad on the plane, and he made me eat the vegetables before I could eat the cake with powdered sugar on it.
The day we moved into our new house, I met Lori S. She was my first best friend. She was five and I was four.
Gina and Lolly lived down the street. They were the same age as my sister and I, so they were our friends too.

I remember when we just had to be the same age and gender to be friends.

I remember my mother forgetting to pick me up the first day of kindergarten. Linda Somebody's mom drove me around the neighborhood (I didn't know my address) until we saw her weeding in the front yard.

I remember she was embarrassed.

I remember when kindergarteners didn't know their addresses or phone numbers.

I remember going to Mexico in a camper when I was seven. It was hotter than I'd even known. And my sister got mumps.

I remember my heart breaking for the first time. He didn't love me, and it didn't matter how much I loved him; he wasn't going to change his mind.

He still slept with me though.

I remember throwing tantrums at school when I didn't get my way. It never worked either.

I was quite a brat. A crybaby, a tattletale, and a smartass.

It's a wonder I had any friends at all.

Debbie was one of them. She was new in the fifth grade, and had a speech impediment. She put her tote tray next to mine one day, and after that we were friends.

I remember I saw her the last time in ninth grade after she moved to Oregon. She and her grandmother stayed at the Hollister Motel, and we went swimming in the pool.

I remember when I didn't like Las Vegas.

I remember when my friends were the most important people in my life.
They still are.