Saturday, June 11, 2005

Mango


People still get us mixed up even though she is fair and I am dark. When we were children, she used to come with our family when we visited relatives. We told them that she was a mutant sister.

We met in the summer of 1970.
The city sponsored supervised play at all the city parks starting that summer. My sister, Rlynne, and I joined the park across the street. It was there that we saw the new kid in the neighborhood.
Everyone made a name tag by printing their name in glue and sprinkling sand over top. Rlynne and I both surreptitiously stole a look at hers and thought, "Mango?"
My sister was the outgoing one so she quickly latched onto Mango. I shyly followed the two girls around the park. Rlynne never did introduce me.
My opportunity came during a game of dodgeball the next day. Mango and I were on the same team so amid the dodges, I fearfully asked, "Will you be my friend?"
She replied, "Sure!" and we have been together ever since.
We played dolls together.
We learned about boys together.
We were roommates.
We partied together.
We both found good men to marry.
We both had two girls and a boy.
We both became Christians.

All because two little girls met.

2 comments:

Blake Lamar said...

I never had a friend like that. We moved around too much when I was little, and when we finally settled someplace until I finished school, the friends I made slowly drifted away. And being shy like yourself, I've never really managed to make any new ones...any real friends, that is.

Anonymous said...

Mango
That`s one of the nicest birthday presents I`ve ever received. Thank you for being my best friend ever.