Fun with My First Friends

I’m a pretty run-of-the-mill person, probably not in anybody’s category of ‘my crazy friend.’ I can’t recall any outrageously adventurous things that I’ve done with friends, which surely must be due to my personal choice.

Be that as it may, I’ll take this opportunity to simply ramble on a bit about friendships in my early life, i.e., my first round of friends. I found each of them to be unusual in ways that my ensuing friends could never be. Making friends for the first time — that’s something we all go through, and the experience makes lasting impressions.

The first friends I recollect are Sun and Alhino, both of whom were my imaginary friends. They were tragically ‘offed’ (in my mind) whilst rollerskating in the garage. I’m sure you will agree that’s quite unusual — how did I ever imagine such a thing?

Next was my childhood best friend Marcia — I went to her house everyday when we were between the age of about 7 to 11. We had great fun playing with paperdolls and games like Cootie, Mr. PotatoHead, Pickup Sticks, and Tiddlywinks. We’d watch The Mickey Mouse Club, making reverential remarks about our favorite Mouseketeers. Then, suddenly, Marcia dumped me for a new girl named Linda Valerie — very awkward, and quite a shock for me.

Another grammar school friend was Bonnie, who lived down the street. She was adopted; took accordion lessons; was allowed to play records on her very own record player; and possessed a signed check made out to her for $100 (which seemed like a million dollars) — these were just some of the things that fascinated me about her.

Nowadays, some zany adventures with friends would be welcome — maybe that’s in store for me in the years ahead.

[Img.Src: Girls with Goat, 1914]