Me, Kathryn, Kelly, Valerie, & Elisabeth at Disneyland
It was the first day of my junior year of high school. It was second period Spanish class with Mrs. Evans. Kelly and I sat next to each other. Well, I sat behind her. Like I said, I'm usually the quiet shy girl at that time in my life. Kelly introduced herself to me and we started talking. We hit it off and found we had a lot in common. Sports, being outdoors, love of animals, movies, etc. It was the perfect friendship. We ended up being on the cross country team together too. I had never been in trouble in school until then. Well, we really weren't in too much trouble. Nothing like detention or suspension. We talked so much through Spanish class that Mrs. Evans separated us. Twice! The first time she put one of us in the front row and the other in the back row in the same row. We still found a way to talk. Then, we were put one in the front row on one side of the room and the other was the back row of the opposite side of the room. It was a little more difficult to talk, but we found a way.
Kelly & Me behind Acapulco
Within the first week of school, we were hanging out outside of school. When we were, it usually involved running, rollerblading or bike riding. We lived a few miles from each other and we would either meet in the middle, I would go to her or she would come to me. Most of the time I would go to her since we would meet at her "uncles" video store. It was a close family friend of hers that she called her uncle. We hung out there a lot. And, that is also how we became friends with a crew on the Browers (later became AMR) ambulance in the same shopping center. We had some great times hanging out at the video store and with our friends Tim and Shane at the ambulance station.
Whenever it was raining, you better believe one of us would call the other and we would either go running or bike riding through the puddles around her house. It usually meant I was riding my bike to her house in the rain. It was so much fun! Sometimes we would do both. Bikes and running. We would find fun in anything. One great thing was watching Top Gun so loud that it would vibrate the house.
Another from behind Acapulco
Kelly made cross country much more fun. I wasn't really a fan of running, until I was running with her. She would crack jokes or mimic our coaches. One thing at to do with "hills are good"! A play on the "pills are good" line from Dumb and Dumber. We ran hills all the time in cross country since that was part of our races. Anytime she would say it, it made me laugh. I'd lose my breath from laughing so much and would have to stop for a minute or two, but it was things like that that made running much more fun. Because of her, is why I ended up running outside of school and our workouts and meets more. I did it when I was younger since I would do Turkey Trots and Triathlons, but I hated running.
Sometimes we would go places with either one of my parents or one of hers. One time, Kelly, her mom and I went to the Westminster mall and ended up looking at puppies there. Kelly really wanted a dog. And somehow she was able to talk her mom into getting one. We played with a few different Golden Retriever puppies and she eventually picked the girl. The whole way home we brainstormed on names. I don't remember when it was finally decided on, but we welcomed Hannah to her family. Hannah went almost everywhere with us. Our usual runs or bike rides now included walks with Hannah. And once Kelly had her license, we would drive to parks and even the beach. Taking Hannah on walks and having new adventures.
Me, Kelly & Hannah at the Hunting Beach Wetlands
Eventually my high school graduation came. Kelly was the one friend I invited to my graduation dinner. To show how goofy we could be, we got wired on iced tea. I guess between the caffeine and the sugar added, it ended up being a bit much for our systems. We had so much energy and just started being goofy afterwards. Running up and down the sidewalk behind the Acapulco in Long Beach that bordered the bay. We would jump up and do the leprechaun heel kick and making funny faces. Looking back, we were kind of cheesy, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.
We had a great summer, then I started college and she was still in high school. It wasn't as fun without her. We still saw each other when we could. But between my water polo and swimming workouts, games & meets and her cross country and track workouts and meets, we didn't get to see each other too much. That, unfortunately, was the start of our drifting apart. After two years of college, I joined the military and went to boot camp. I did hear from her. She was one of the few who wrote me probably once a week.
Valerie, Kelly, Me, & Alora at the Cerritos Mall
I got back from boot camp and medic school and we hung out a few times. Unfortunately, being away and us growing up more, made us drift apart. In 2001 I moved to Northern California. It was about a year or so after she got married to a pretty cool guy in the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton. We tried to keep in touch through e-mail when I moved away, but it got few and far in between and eventually we didn't hear from each other again. Until a few years ago when we found each other on Facebook. We spoke a bit, then one of my trips to Southern California we met up with our friend Valerie for dinner and a walk around the Cerritos mall. It was nice to catch up on what we had been up to since we last spoke. She has 2 kids now, a boy and girl. They are amazing kids.
Since my diagnosis, she has been there more. Texting and calling and even e-mailing on Facebook to see how I'm doing. It's really nice to have an old friend back. Just like it was amazing to get Kristy back in my life at just the right time, it seems I've got Kelly back at just the right time also. We may not hang out since she is in Texas and I am in Northern California, but the occasional talks really make my day. It reminds me that no matter how long between talking to a friend there is, I can always count on my friends to be there when I need them.
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