I Won't Think About That Now...
I moved a lot. I went to three different high schools. At every school I had one really good friend. In California it was Amanda, I still talk to her today. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding. In Virginia it was Emily, I still talk to her too. In New Mexico, it was Joanna.
At Holloman there were rows of cul-de-sacs that we all lived on. Joanna lived two cul-de-sacs over. We rode the same bus to school. She was a year older than me, a Junior to my Sophomore. She had another friend (who lived off base) who's name I can't remember now. Necessity makes fast friends, and we lived really close together. It was easy for us to hang out. She got her drivers license before me, she drove me to school sometimes.
We passed notes to each other all the time in school. We hung out with the same crowd in the morning. We didn't have the same lunch, but she introduced me to the people that I would later eat lunch with. That right there - introducing me to lunch people - is worth it's weight in gold. The hardest part of moving, and I mean the hardest part of moving, is eating lunch at school.
We watched Gone with the Wind a lot. We were 16-year-old girls who were dramatic and silly. We loved Scarlett. She wore beautiful dresses and had lots of boyfriends and she had problems. We quoted the movie all the time. "I won't think about that now ... I'll think about that tomorrow." We watched Dawson's Creek together. We got in trouble together. We had dinner together. Her family took me on trips. I went to her brother's soccer games. We went to White Sands together. We had nicknames for each other which we made necklaces of. She was my closest friend. I have a picture of her and Amanda when Amanda came to visit at White Sands in front of the big brown van. We went to Prom together. She was who I told about my first kiss. When she got grounded from the car I drove us to school. And vice versa. I told you we got in trouble together :) We were, after all, 16.
She was a really good friend. She came to my graduation from high school in Virginia. We talked through my first few years of college. But we drifted. She moved on. We lost touch. Last year I learned that she had passed away by doing a random google search and finding her obituary. It's been 9 years since I've seen her. But the people you know when you're 16, the person that helps you when you're struggling, the person that makes you feel like you have a friend when you feel like you have none ... you remember them.
I think of her all the time, and I regret the distance that happened, even though I know it was natural. My cousin posted a question regarding Gone with the Wind and it made me think of Joanna. I just wanted everyone to know who she was, what she was to me. She was my very good friend for a time, through a very hard time. When I was alone in Virginia, and sad and lonely ... she talked to me on the phone and wrote me letters.
It hurts my heart to miss her, to know that a person that shared so much with me is no longer with us. I know that she is in heaven, keeping watch over all the children. That's where she would have wanted to be. But to think that someone I was so close to not being here ... it makes my heart hurt. I pray for her family ... I hope they know I remember their daughter fondly and with love.
And God Bless Joanna ... I hope to see you again someday. You, me and Vivian Leigh will do lunch. :)
At Holloman there were rows of cul-de-sacs that we all lived on. Joanna lived two cul-de-sacs over. We rode the same bus to school. She was a year older than me, a Junior to my Sophomore. She had another friend (who lived off base) who's name I can't remember now. Necessity makes fast friends, and we lived really close together. It was easy for us to hang out. She got her drivers license before me, she drove me to school sometimes.
We passed notes to each other all the time in school. We hung out with the same crowd in the morning. We didn't have the same lunch, but she introduced me to the people that I would later eat lunch with. That right there - introducing me to lunch people - is worth it's weight in gold. The hardest part of moving, and I mean the hardest part of moving, is eating lunch at school.
We watched Gone with the Wind a lot. We were 16-year-old girls who were dramatic and silly. We loved Scarlett. She wore beautiful dresses and had lots of boyfriends and she had problems. We quoted the movie all the time. "I won't think about that now ... I'll think about that tomorrow." We watched Dawson's Creek together. We got in trouble together. We had dinner together. Her family took me on trips. I went to her brother's soccer games. We went to White Sands together. We had nicknames for each other which we made necklaces of. She was my closest friend. I have a picture of her and Amanda when Amanda came to visit at White Sands in front of the big brown van. We went to Prom together. She was who I told about my first kiss. When she got grounded from the car I drove us to school. And vice versa. I told you we got in trouble together :) We were, after all, 16.
She was a really good friend. She came to my graduation from high school in Virginia. We talked through my first few years of college. But we drifted. She moved on. We lost touch. Last year I learned that she had passed away by doing a random google search and finding her obituary. It's been 9 years since I've seen her. But the people you know when you're 16, the person that helps you when you're struggling, the person that makes you feel like you have a friend when you feel like you have none ... you remember them.
I think of her all the time, and I regret the distance that happened, even though I know it was natural. My cousin posted a question regarding Gone with the Wind and it made me think of Joanna. I just wanted everyone to know who she was, what she was to me. She was my very good friend for a time, through a very hard time. When I was alone in Virginia, and sad and lonely ... she talked to me on the phone and wrote me letters.
It hurts my heart to miss her, to know that a person that shared so much with me is no longer with us. I know that she is in heaven, keeping watch over all the children. That's where she would have wanted to be. But to think that someone I was so close to not being here ... it makes my heart hurt. I pray for her family ... I hope they know I remember their daughter fondly and with love.
And God Bless Joanna ... I hope to see you again someday. You, me and Vivian Leigh will do lunch. :)
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