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| Me and Dar Grade 5 |
We spent many Halloween's together. I remember the time my Mom took us trick or treating up on the hill by the hospital. The candy was better up there. We were both wearing old clothes found in my basement - dresses, shawls, bag-lady attire. This one house had stairs with no guardrail. From the top step we hollered, "Trick or treat - money or sweets!" The lady of the house swung the door open in an enthusiastic greeting and knocked Darlene right off the step. I watched her take flight in what seemed like slow motion. Her dress appeared to billow like a parachute before she became stranded in the rosebush below. Mom and I could hardly rescue her for laughing.
We were a foursome by the time our last Halloween rolled around when we were teenagers. Betsy and Lorely had joined our troupe. We decided to congregate at Darlene's house because her folks weren't home. Too old to go door to door for treats the only option left was tricks. Darlene went to the fridge and found a single egg. We convened over this egg, and decided who was best to launch it at an approaching vehicle from the back step. Since I had the best aim I was chosen. We huddled together out in the dark waiting for the next car. I bounced the egg in the palm of my hand like a hot potato. Then, around the corner came a beam of headlights. We squealed with excitement. I drew back my arm and when I thought the car was close enough I threw that egg with all my might. I swear it sailed through the air with an audible whistle before it exploded right in the middle of the windshield. The driver slammed on his brakes causing us to scream and scramble over each other trying to get inside the house. We shut off all the lights and laid on the kitchen floor laughing - hoping the driver hadn't seen us and wouldn't come knocking.
Our friendship evolved as we grew up. We both married young and went our separate ways for a time - still reconnecting on the phone once in a while to confirm that our friendship was alive and well. Sharing pregnancies was an event that rekindled our friendship. It was my second and Darlene's first. We'd waddle to Taco Time for lunch and then over to the mall for a double licorice ice cream cone. What a pair. As luck would have it, we gave birth two weeks apart to the day. Darlene had her girl first and then mine followed. We talked colic and constipation. We took our growing daughters to movies, had birthday parties and sleepovers and seemed to have a built-in excuse for spending time together again. Lucky us.
Then my moving to another city seemed to threaten what we had worked so hard to rebuild. We were both afraid we'd lose touch and not see each other anymore. But the miles between us only seemed to bring us closer. We wrote letters, exchanged emails and visited each other as often as possible. We had the kind of friendship that could withstand the distance, and in spite of it, there have been few life events not shared.
My husband and I were seated with the family at Darlene's daughter's wedding. We've shared the births of our grandchildren and the deaths of beloved parents and pets. The birthday card I sent her this year said, "We'll be friends forever! You know too much!". It's true, she knows me - heart and soul. And she loves me anyway. I like to think God put her in my life that night fifty years ago hoping we'd become friends - knowing that someday, I'd need a sister.
Lucky me.
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