On Independence Day 2015, we were getting ready to throw a huge party at the Sobert sisters' old house in Rochester, New York. There were lots of great things at the party for both kids and adults to enjoy, such as a swimming pool. There was also going to be a cookout for dinner and fireworks displays at night. 6 of the oldest Sobert sisters were in charge of everything- Beth, Shannon, and Nicole were in charge of setting off the fireworks display, and Emily, Ashley, and Madison were in charge of grilling the hamburgers and hot dogs. I was helping unload the groceries when my cell phone rang. "Hello," I then answered the phone. "Hi, Angel," a female voice answered. I realized it was from my old best friend, Sarah Phillips. "Hi, Sarah," I answered. "What's up?" "We got your invitation, and James, Henri, and I can come up to your party," Sarah informed me. "Okay, then," I replied. "We will see you later." I then hung up the phone. "Who was that?" Sarah, the youngest Sobert sister, asked. "That was my old friend, Sarah and her friends," I told Sarah. "They agreed to drive up to my party." "That's great," Sarah's boyfriend, Matthew (or Matt) Mifflin agreed. Matthew had 3 adorable younger sisters- Abigail (or Abby) who was 14 years old, Hannah who was 9 years old, and Samantha (or Sam) who was 5 years old. The little girls also had adorable boyfriends- Jacob (or Jake), Joshua (or Josh), and Andrew. Pretty soon, Casey and Emma, 2 of Sarah's older sisters, came to help us get ready for the party. Emma brought in 3 delicious ice cream treats from Dairy Queen for the party- DQ Sandwiches, Dilly Bars, and of course, red, white, and blue popsicles. "I want ice cream," Samantha yelled out. "No, Samantha," Emma stated. "You don't get ice cream until all the guests arrive." Pretty soon, after the rest of the Sobert sisters arrived and 5 of my family members, that was when I saw Sarah, James, and Henri. I ran out to the car and greeted them. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Happy 4th of July!" "Same to you," Sarah told me. "Where's the party?" James asked. "It is right this way, guys," I then told them, leading them to the party. I then introduced my 3 childhood friends to the 3 youngest Sobert sisters- Casey, Emma, and Sarah. "Wow, you have the same name as me," Sarah Sobert told Sarah Phillips. "You're right, Sarah," Sarah Phillips then replied back. "When did you guys all meet?" Henri asked. "Back in 2007, when we were 16, 14, 13, and 12," I told them. "I went to college at Carnegie Mellon University," James stated. "I was getting ready for my senior year of high school," Sarah informed. "And, I was transitioning from 7th grade to 8th grade," Henri declared. "When did you guys all become friends?" Sarah Sobert asked. "5 years earlier, in 2002, at the ages of 14, 12, and 8 years old," I explained. "We did everything together." "Like what?" Emma asked. "Well, I don't remember exactly, but we did share some good times together," I told them. "Can you share some good memories with us?" Casey inquired. "There was the time that we snuck out into Molly's Sweet 16 party," I explained. "Do you remember that, Sarah?" "Of course," Sarah replied. "We weren't invited, but eventually, James found out and sent us straight home from the party." "I can also remember school picture day for Sarah and James, and I was there to support James when he faked sick and thought that he was going crazy," I continued. "Do you remember that, James?" "Absolutely, Angel," James replied. "I was so tense that morning about all the girls liking me." "I also remember James going away on his ski trip, and Sarah taking care of Henri and me," I then continued. "Do you remember that, Henri?" "Certainly," Henri replied. "We played fun games and ate fun snacks." "Speaking of snacks, can you show us to the snack table?" James asked. "Yeah, we're all hungry," Sarah agreed. "Sure," I then offered. We then spotted Samantha, the youngest Mifflin daughter, throwing a tantrum when she was told that she couldn't have an ice cream treat until after dinner. Sarah Sobert then went to go straighten things out, while the 2 older Mifflin daughters, Abigail and Hannah, came back from going swimming. "Abby, Hannah, meet 3 of my old friends from childhood: Sarah Phillips, James Hiller, and Henri LeFevre," I then introduced. "We were just going to get some chips and pretzels to eat, when we ran into your little sister getting into trouble," Henri mentioned. "That was actually what we had to eat when Sarah baby-sat us," I recalled. "I had potato chips, Sarah had pretzels, and Henri had Doritos." "Wow, you remember your snacks very well, Angel," Sarah pointed out. "Would you like to share with these girls some more fun moments we had?" James asked. "Certainly," I replied. I then cleared my throat. "Well, there was this unbelievably hot day in late May where James, Henri, and I were selling lemonade, and it was too hot for us to cook dinner, so we ordered Chinese take-out that night." "Oh, wow!" Hannah exclaimed. "It gets pretty hot in the Erie area, but usually not until the end of June. May is quite unusual for summerlike warmth, but we do order take-out whenever it gets too hot to cook dinner." "Here's one I should definitely mention," I then continued. "Sarah and I having girl time together, where she braided my hair and painted my fingernails." "Huh," Abigail remarked. "I'm a bit of a tomboy myself, but I do like girly things." "When I was your age, Abigail," Sarah stated, "my style was the same, too. But, Angel always loved my outfits. Didn't you, Angel?" Of course, Sarah had on a nice 4th of July outfit herself: a red, white, and blue sleeveless shirt, white capris, and white wedge sandals, similar to what most of the older Sobert sisters were wearing, particularly Emily and Ashley. After Samantha was called to time-out, we continued to hang out and chat with each other until dinner, when Samantha came back from time-out. There was soda, water, and beer to drink. For main courses, there were beef kabobs, baby back ribs, and of course, hamburgers and hot dogs. For side dishes, there were canned baked beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and homemade potato salad, as well as the chips and pretzels. For dessert, there were of course, the ice cream treats from Dairy Queen that Emma brought in, as well as 3 different kinds of fruit: grapes, peaches, and watermelon. After we ate dinner, I shared with Samantha more great moments from our childhood, including the day we first met, the banquet that Sarah and James were honored at, Sarah getting accused for cheating off her history exam, Sarah's first date with a boy in her class, James' house party after his summer ski trip, his graduation from Freeport Area High School back in 2006, and of course, all of our Christmas and birthday celebrations. "Wow, you certainly did have a nice childhood with your good friends," Samantha remarked as she ate a red, white, and blue Popsicle. Hannah munched on a DQ Sandwich, and Abigail chose to eat a Dilly Bar. Later that night, we watched fireworks light up the beautiful nighttime sky. I then thanked Sarah, James, and Henri for coming over to our family-friendly holiday celebration in Rochester, New York.