I’m recording my youth, one year per week. This week I’m talking about life in the 8th grade (age 13).
I can’t think of eighth grade without thinking of Amy. As cheesy as Anne Shirley’s term “kindred spirits” might be, it really is the best description of the kind of relationship Amy and I had. Sometimes it was spooky how connected Amy and I were. We could finish each other’s thoughts. She would call me when I had my hand on the phone to dial her number. We spent every minute possible together, and if we weren’t together then we were either on the phone or writing each other letters. I met Amy in 7th grade and by 8th grade we were BFFs (even though that term didn’t exist back then).
I have too many memories with Amy to list. Strangely, one of the memories that sticks out in my mind (though this memory was probably later than 8th grade) was stopping by a store to buy some candy together. Apparently, I payed for the candy, and the cashier responded “Oh, letting Big Sister pay today?” to Amy. We laughed and laughed about that, because Amy was 11 months older than I was.
Amy and I had lots of adventures together, including getting concert tickets and back stage passes to the Bon Jovi New Jersey concert. The concert was amazing, but wearing those backstage passes was one of the greatest thrills I’d ever experienced. We waited backstage after the concert for quite a while, cameras ready. Finally, an official-looking guy came into the room and let us know that the band would not be joining us backstage that night. They were celebrating Jon’s very recent wedding privately (apparently, he got married the day before). What a let-down!
I moved away in the middle of 10th grade, but Amy and I continued to talk and write letters for years. We don’t live in houses next door to each other with connected back yards, but we are both mothers of five kids and still kindred spirits.
Who was your best friend growing up?
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There’s definately a great deal to know about this issue. I like all of the points you’ve made.
How sweet that you found your kindred spirit! It still amazes me how new friends can just seem to click when they first meet.
http://www.bethlamie.com
One of my best friends was a girl named Kiki. The hardest thing about going off to college was leaving her. We had all kind of adventures together. It was a magical time of life!
BFF’s have been wonderful long before the term was invented! My BFF was my cousin whom I’ve written a lot about in my MPT. An interesting extension of us occured in 1974. I was pregnant and the baby was due July 10. My cousin’s birthday was July 1, so when I sent her a birthday card, I wrote: “Sorry, the baby probably won’t be born on your birthday.” And sure enough on July 1, our daughter was born (no induced births then) and when I called her, she though I was calling to wish her a happy birthday. But I had better news that these two would share a birthday all their lives!
My best friend from 7th grade is a woman I’m still friends with today. We don’t talk every day or see each other that often, even though we both live in the same town. But when we do get together, we can talk for hours and hours and hours. That connection is still there after all these years.
My best friend from 7th grade and I are still friends to this date, we actually roomed together in college for a couple of years and then again in our “adult” life. She was my maid of honor and was in the room with me when I was in labor with Miss A, (I ended up having a c-section) but she was one of the first people to meet A.
My best friend in high school and I always said that we “shared a brain”:-) When I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, she was three months ahead of me with her first. Even our pregnacies mirrored each other:-)
I had a BFF like that in middle school. I moved in 8th grade though, but we still stayed in touch. We used the term LYLAS (Love Ya Like A Sister) because BFF was not invented back then…lol.