The New Girl on the Block
Ok, first I have to start this out by saying sorry to my other bestest friends, because if I know them like I think I do, they will think I am being totally friend-discriminatory. You guys are also my friends and I love you all!
I woke up on a sleepy Saturday morning with nothing on my four year old mind except the big yard sale we would be having that day. I pulled on my, now that I look back on it, bright orange mini skirt and a matching tank-top with a big flower, each pedal a different color,right in the middle. I brushed my teeth, but didn't bother to brush my hair. My motto was: "Why do it if it's just going to get messed up again?" Yes, I actually did ask my poor mother why, with the exact same words. I put on my might-as-well-be-knee socks and rolled them down, then carefully laced up my maroon sneakers.
We had just moved into a big two-story house. It was still slightly empty but we had been sure to put the sofas around the TV, and we had electricity and water, so everything was good. My room was the biggest room I had ever had. Of course this isn't saying much because I had only lived in one other house… I was the new girl on the block and like most newly-moved families we had a garage sale. I thought maybe I would make a few new friends. Boy was I in for a ride.
We all helped carry things out to the front of the road where I arranged the things on these big tables that our across-the-street neighbors let us borrow for the day. There was tons and tons of stuff. There was my buggy for when I was really, really, really, really, really little and didn't even have the notion that I could ride a bike, and there were lots of books and stuffed animals and a few other things my parents thought were unnecessary in our new house. We had already set up a few coops of chickens and my mom thought that a yard sale would be a great time to sell some eggs.
Lots of people came by that day. Some bought things, others didn't. I went to the house and made some lime-aide from the keylime tree we had on our land. Our right side-next door neighbor came by. She was a really nice old lady who said we could go on her land any time to eat these really tasty fruit she had on this HUGE tree (since then she died and someone else, who isn't quite as nice, moved in and cut down the yummy fruit tree). Then some tourists stopped and bought a few books my mom had on Florida wildlife and flowers and such. I got to be in charge of the money flow. I was happy about this, because I liked to feel the stiff green bills in my little pudgy hands before it went into the cigar box we were using as a cashbox.
I also got to sell the eggs since they we labeled, "Rachel's Eggs" with this really cute picture I drew when I was little of what my mom calls 'love chicks'. I guess it was a lucky coincidence that that particular day Gail Hardeman had gone out in search of some good ol' organic eggs. And it was just a coincidence that she happened to bring along Stephanie Ellis Hardeman, her daughter. And it was just a coincidence that I happened to be hungry and Stephanie happened to have two snacks.
At first we kind of looked at each other in a shy way, and then (I'm not sure which one of us initiated the question) one of us asked if the other wanted to go sit down and eat a snack. So we sat in the driveway and had a little picnic of cheezy-dip-thingies. We sat a little time after that and we talked… I'm not exactly sure what we talked about because who knows what four and five year olds talked about back then.
When her mom told her they had to go, we made a promise to see each other again and our moms said that maybe we could get together some time soon. I guess we had made a good first impression, no matter how freaky I looked in my bright outfit.
Now-a-days we talk every single day and on the weekends we go insane if we don't see each other. One day away from each other seems like a million years and we feel totally free like we can tell each other EVERYTHING when we're around each other. We steal words from each other and have even been asked if we're sisters (although I think that lady was on something, 'cause we don't look anything alike… I mean she has blond hair and is short-ish and chubby-ish and I have brown hair and am very tallish and skinny-ish… I think I'll ask the lady to share if I ever see her again). Naw, but fer real, we consider each other family; she tells me all of her 'secrets' and I have been TOTALLY honest with her. We help each other out of tough situations, like when recently her boyfriend has been losing interest in her. We go everywhere with each other. "If Stephanie's not going, then I'm not!" "I just wanted to go 'cause Rachey was going!"
She's always been there for me and I hope me for her. I love her with all my heart and always will.
Recently Steph has sold her house and is moving to Alabama. We're hoping that this big move won't kill our relationship, because honestly she is my only friend forever… who I can talk to all the time, because I know she won't laugh at me and when she moves I don't know what I'll do… probably drift away and become an empty shell… She is my only anchor to sanity and sometimes she's not the steadiest anchor because she's not much saner than I am…