Sarah Makes Me Smile

I honestly don't remember it because I was 4 and she was 3, but this is how I imagine it.  A cute little 3 year old strawberry blond girl named Sarah is playing quietly in her yard.  A cute little 4 year old brunette girl named Megan (pre H)  sees her down the street and decides she looks like much more fun to play with than her little brother so she goes up to her and asks "Do you want to be my friend?"  The little blond girl has impeccable manners and is always very polite so she says ok.  The lifelong friendship begins.  Sarah (always had an H) has been my friend since before I can remember and I have so many memories that they just all get jumbled up together.  When you are a kid you are really at the mercy of your parents on who your friends are.  If your parents don't get along with their parents the friendship is essentially doomed.  Luckily our parents got along great so we got to spend so much time together.  I remember going to the Sphar's for dinner and Sarah and I pretending to be asleep so my parents would just leave me there to spend the night.  I am pretty sure they weren't fooled, but I did get to spend the night often.  We would play dolls in her room.  I had a Jenny doll with brown hair.  She had a Mandy doll with blond hair of course.  We would play Barbies in her basement.  We would also do anything we could to torture Graham or get him in trouble.  We would go to Cedar Point and Sea World together.  We would ride our bikes all over the place.  Sarah was with me for a pivotal moment in my childhood.  A moment that a girl really needs a true friend by her side. The moment she receives her first Michael Jackson album.  Off the Wall.  You need a friend with you to truly admire those glow in the dark socks.  Mrs. Sphar- Kay as I am supposed to call her now but still have a hard time doing- made me a nightgown.  It was pink and the words "I Love Teddy" were all over the fabric.  She made a matching nightgown for my Jenny doll and a shirt for Theodore, my teddy bear. I found mine the other day at my mom's and Theodore has never taken his off.

As we grew older our interests went in different ways so we didn't spend as much time together but I can say that I always had a true friend in Sarah.  I don't think I was always a good friend to Sarah- middle and high school drama.  The fact that she still considers me a friend is testament to what a great person she is.  I guess what I am saying is that generally my memories of my childhood are happy, and I owe some of that happiness to Sarah.  Our parents were and still are very good friends.  My mom always says "the kind of friends that you just pick up where you left off even if you don't see each other for a few years.

Sarah is getting married in a few days.  I haven't met her fiance, but I have been assured that he is wonderful man.  Her wedding is in Ireland so I will not be attending, but I am planning on going to the stateside reception in October.  So- to Ivan I say- you've got a wonderful woman there but I suspect you already know that.  I am sure she will give you as many happy memories that she gave me.