Pollywogs and Peanut Butter Crackers

As I told my son, who is entering Middle School in the fall, one of the best things about leaving elementary school is making friends from other schools in the district. I well remember entering the 6th grade. It was when I met several good friends. It was the year I met one of my best friends, a girl named Ann Marie. I cannot recall exactly where we first met, but I do know that we both played the flute in the band and we went to the same church. We had several mutual friends. We probably shared the same classes too. We became better friends when we hit high school, between sleepovers and trips to our camps. We had close friendships with others too, but we could always count on one another over the years.

When we went off to college, we realized that our chosen schools were only 20 minutes apart. We took advantage of this and enjoyed a few rock concerts together, and along with a few other friends, “Ree” and I rented an apartment together the summer after our freshman year and worked at the mall. She served as one of my bridesmaids in 1988 and I sang at her wedding a few years later. Over the years, despite the distance between us, we’ve managed to stay in touch and to visit one another’s families from time to time. Each time we’re together it is like no time has passed. Even our children quickly jump back into familiar and comfortable friendships.

So as our 25th high school class reunion approached, I was happy to hear Ree would be in town. We met at my camp to walk next door for the traditional “family day”. Her sons, so incredibly handsome and sociable, immediately began talking to me as though we see each other every day, and before long, our children were once again enjoying one another’s company. We went to meet our other classmates and enjoyed some time with them, then headed back to my camp to give our kids a chance to hang out together at the lake. A search for the pollywogs began as Ree and I sat on the dock swatting horseflies, watching our children catch thirty tadpoles. Trips up the ladder to the camp loft, peanut butter crackers, and time on the hammock all added to what would make a pretty nice afternoon for us all.

At one point during our time together today, I paused for a second and thought of how quickly the three decades had passed since we first became friends. How much life we’ve experienced in those years, and how very lucky we are to have this chance to watch our healthy and happy children playing together! What a good mom Ree is, how beautiful a person she has always been, inside and out, and how incredibly blessed I am to still have her in my life! Tomorrow night we’ll meet up again to attend the dinner-dance with our high school classmates. She and I are looking forward to seeing everyone, but I have a sneaky suspicion that our own families’ reunion this afternoon, time spent with pollywogs and peanut butter crackers, will be my favorite part of this entire weekend here in our hometown.