Preschool was a different time, both personally and culturally. Back then, our moms would volunteer (sometimes dads volunteered too) and help out in the classroom every day. We painted with finger paints, ate cheese cubes (real cheese cubes, not pre-made ones!), played dress up, and made arts and crafts. There was a felt board with a birthday cake on it, and whenever it was your birthday you got to make a cake. Pick your choice, chocolate/yellow/white cake, pink/brown/yellow/white frosting, and however many candles represented your age. We were both three years old when we started in September of 1985, she turned four in January of 1986 and I turned four in February of the same year. I always had chocolate cake with pink frosting. MEI and I liked to play dress up together with Boomer and Kevin K. and Matt A.
I think the reason MEI and I became friends wasn't just for our love of ratty old clothes, but because we lived a couple blocks away. I lived at the bottom of the hill on Berkshire Drive, and she lived at the top (way at the top!) of the hill on Riverview Drive. She had a big huge house. I had a medium sized house. We were both only children. We would play a lot at her house, even though I was terrified of her stupid fucking dog, Misty. I hated that dog. One time, it bit me on the back of my thigh and I still have not forgiven it, even though it died a long time ago. MEI will probably bitch at me for saying that. Anyway, I digress. MEI had a didey that she carried around, one of the old fashioned cloth diapers, and I used to steal it while we were playing and hide it in the toybox or under the bed. She bit me a lot, and pulled my hair. We were very physical! I remember jumping on the bed trying to escape from her because I didn't want my hair pulled, and I rolled off the other side and smacked my head on... I can't remember. I think it was a chest of some sort. Oh yes, we were rowdy.
In 1986 MEI got a little sister, Laurie. MEI yelled at me when I wanted to see Laurie because she thought I would break her, even though Laurie was in a bassinet. It was dumb. We went through many parties, birthday, Hallowe'en, etc. It was so much fun back then. For Hallowe'en one year MEI dressed up as Punky Brewster, and I was a witch. One year she was a witch and I was BatGirl. One time I was a model and she was Dracula. It was awesome.
When we got older, we played out in the "woods" behind her house, which don't exist anymore, and we would play that we were The Babysitter's Club or The Sweet Valley Twins or just some sort of adventurers. MEI loved Annie, but I hated it. I loved scary stuff, but she hated it. We had a lot in common and a lot not in common. That's what made us best friends.
In 1993 I moved from Macedonia to Northfield, which sucked. Even though it was only about five miles away, it was still too far to ride my bike to her house. We were still friends at age eleven, and that was awesome. Shortly after I moved, MEI's dad got transferred to Texas. I saw her once in the next seven years when they came back for a visit in the summer. She moved from Texas to Pennsylvania at some point before high school, and stayed in PA until recently when she moved to Washington D.C. after graduating from college. We both graduated in 2000, and all I have heard since then from my mother was "Why can't you be more like MEI?" and MEI and I laugh about it.
The last time I saw MEI was 1993. We were eleven. Monday is her 25th birthday (mine's in 29 days!!) I miss her, but not terribly, because I talk to her everyday. Sometimes we only talk on gaim, sometimes we talk on the phone, but we talk every single day for the most part. We've been through a lot, between mental illnesses, death, marriage and moving, there's nothing we couldn't handle.
We even kinda look alike.
Me on the left, MEI on the right.
(It's the only pic I could find where I kinda have the same look on my face lol)
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