Circle of Friends

Make new friends, but keep the old,
one is silver and the other gold
A song from Girl Scouts,
from my mom,
our leader

We had Mac-n-Cheese for dinner the day my first best friend
Jessica
moved away
I left the table and ran to the bathroom
to cry in front of the mirror
'stead of in front of my fam'ly

We met in second grade
I loved that her initials spelled JAM
We were bus buddies
We wore jelly shoes,
jelly bracelets and friendship bracelets
up to our elbows

Silly sleepovers
where we never slept
Forts in the backyard,
as long as we "Put it all away when you're done"
said my mom and her mom, Mary Jo
who gave her the best stickers
for her collection

Bike rides to the park on banana seats
It was just the 2 of us
when she skidded on the gravel and lost
her 2 front teeth.
They were permanent

We were permanent.

My parents bought her house,
So, they made her move away,
I thought
sort of.
They were moving
anyway,
but maybe they would've stayed
longer

We only lived one block
away
So, we carried our stuff over
to their old house,
our new house,
through the yards
past the black dog's
cage

I slept in her bedroom,
and ate at the breakfast bar
we'd pretended was our restaurant

Now I serve my daughter
breakfast
before she's off
to second grade.
Her 2 front teeth are coming in,
one longer than the other

Her first best friend
is Mary Jo (the only other Mary Jo I've ever known)

At recess, they gather acorns for "food" and guard them
from the boys,
They share grass bracelets,
chapter books,
and treats from their lunches the other mom doesn't buy

After school, it's tag on the playground
'til I honk my horn.
They hop in with their
backpacks and giggles,
She comes to play
at our house

They work for hours
writing a book,
their book,
and illustrate it together.
BFF
(Jessica still has ours).

Mary Jo's allergic to peanut butter,
so I feed them
bread and
Mac-n-Cheese

I try to be their leader
and we sing
Make new friends, but keep the old,
one is silver and the other gold.



I've been thinking about friendship a lot lately, as many of my very good friends have moved and are moving. After the "Make new friends..." bit came to mind, I noticed it as the friendship quote that my good friend posted on her blog after just moving away! We really must be true friends!

Although I've lost touch with my first best friend, I still think of her often. She's a part of me, a part of my history.

I believe that certain people are put in our lives at certain times to help us along the way, so to my friends who I miss, you are only helping someone new who needs you now! And, because of you, I'll never be the same.