Childhood Friends

Everyone remembers the first good friends they had, no matter how young they were. For me, those girls are Carra Linde, Samantha (Sam) Wilson, Stasia McGuire, and Grace Jones.
Carra Linde and I were honestly friends from the womb. I was born only a few weeks before her, and our parents were close friends. We grew up playing Barbies, losing teeth, messing with our brothers, and acting out Nativity Scenes every Christmas. She did all of these things while wearing loud patterned toe socks. I can count on one hand the times I've seen her since moving away from Tennessee in third grade, but we still send ugly Snapchats to each other every once in a while. TeeTee+CarCar 4ever.
Sam Wilson was my NHA school buddy in Tennessee. We rocked the plaid jumpers and giant hairbows from Mrs. Utley to Mrs. Peabody. We compared beanie baby collections and played Nintendo 64 with our little brothers, Garrett and Oakes. We ventured to the American Girl place in Chicago for one of my birthdays after I moved and we reveled in the grown up feeling of sitting on the "L" several rows apart from our mothers. She traveled to Scotland last summer and I can't wait til I come back next May and we can discuss Scottish adventures. Maybe even in person over glasses of Jack and Coke.
Stasia McGuire was a neighborhood friend. Our moms would get together and cook giant vats of freezable foods to save time and money. She is one grade behind me in school, but I remember how excited I was when she started to attend NHA in the first grade. We loved to play dress-up and no scenario was beyond the reach of our expansive imaginations. From orphans, to slaves, to princesses, we acted out them all. She now plays the part of nursing student exceptionally well.
Grace Jones lived literally two doors down from our house on 1251 Buckingham Circle. The layout of our two  homes matched completely, down to our second story bedrooms above the front door. For that reason, among others, her house was my second home in the summer and we would traipse across the middle house yard over and over, alternating between playing school and Barbies. Our close proximity set us up for a close friendship and we were both devastated when I had to move away, but our endocrine deficiencies unite us even now, 12 years later.


A Very Lucky Girl couldn't have had better first friends. The kind who are hard to leave and who I never stop missing.