Hula Girls at Heart

Connie and I enjoying a margarita at the Jimmy Buffett concert-I cannot explain that goofy look on my face. I must have been in mid sentence!

Today I want to take a few minutes to blog about my oldest friend. No, she is not old age wise, but I have known her for a very long time thus she is an old friend.

Connie and I were in the same Kindergarten class at Douglas School. I have no memories whatsoever of that class except that I hated the school. I was painfully shy so I don't even know if I ever talked to Connie. I probably didn't talk to anyone! I just like to think that somewhere in my subconscious I filed away the name of a sweet little classmate.

Connie went on to a Catholic gradeschool and I went on to a Lutheran gradeschool where we each spent the next eight years of our lives. Our friendship really blossomed on the first day of High School. The Parochial school kids were always on edge those first few days because we had to feed into a group of Junior High kids who had been together since 7th grade and already knew the ropes of the High School. In those days all students in grades 7-12 were in one building and it was a scary thing to enter that huge school with so many kids after eight years with the same 40 kids. (yes, our classes were big in those days)

Anyway, Connie and I had a study hall together and we sat across from one another. We started talking and she told me how she had lost her pencil case with her locker key on it. Well, she moved into my locker and our friendship was born. We did a lot of walking all over town. It just so happened that we lived just blocks from each other. We both scare so easily and when we would walk home in the dark we had to part ways up by the pool. We would both take off running toward our homes sure that we were being followed by murderers! If we babysat together we about drove one another crazy with fear. Connie's family moved to Brandon during her Sophomore and Junior year and I missed her so much. She came back for our prom the night after she had been the queen of her prom at Brandon. I was so happy when she moved back here for her senior year. We made many more memories. College took Connie to Stevens Point while I went to Carroll. I loved my visits up to Point. If I remember correctly there was a woods near her dorm and some drinking went on there.

Connie went on to marry Paul, I went on to marry John. We visited each other often and always had so much fun sometimes involving cranberry drinks, cements, and our husbands scaring us! I went on to have Courtney and Alissa, Connie went on to have Sarah and Nathan and our little families shared so many happy times. I just loved visiting Connie and Paul because they always had so much planned for the kids making ice cream, slip and slides, bouncing on waterbeds, sliding down steps in sleeping bags, homemade playdough, pinatas and the fun just went on and on. Now Sarah is married to Chad and Courtney is married to Paul. It warms my heart to see how they have become such good friends, too. Chad and Sarah have little Aidan and soon Courtney and Paul will have little Tizzy and the friendships will go on into the third generation.

The best thing about Connie is that she always has such good advice for me. Back in the days of High School romances to present day stresses she has always been there to guide me along with her helpful words. I know that I can tell her anything without being judged and she will mull it over and help me work it out. Even if we don't see Connie and Paul as much as we would like, every visit is special and memorable. I never had a sister, but I like to think that if I did have a sister our relationship would be like Connie and mine. She is like the sister I never had.

This really got long and I haven't even said as much as I wanted. I just want Connie to know how much I value her friendship.

My message of the day to Tizzy: You will meet my friend Connie and when you meet her you will know why she is so special to me. We already have plans for you and her little grandson Aidan to play together.