A 30 SOMETHING YEAR OLD FRIENDSHIP

I can't believe that I am even old enough to have had a friendship that has lasted more than 30 years. 33 to be exact. Rebecca and I met in Mrs. Hearring Kindergarten class in St. Johns AZ. I remember playing on the swings and playing dress up with Rebecca but we didn't become best friends till around 3rd grade. We were even baptised together! We sang a song from My Turn on Earth called 'Bright Little Light' which I have had all three of my own children sing at their baptisms. Rebecca and I spent our time playing at each others houses, jumping on her trampoline, dressing up for Halloween, going to Merry Miss and mutual together,attending choir, baking and just being very silly. During the summer we rode our bikes down town to the public pool and walked to the drugstore for hot dogs and cokes from the soda fountain, we slept under the stars on her trampoline or on our rollaway bed. We ate tons of Popsicles and even had several food fights, peanuts in my room during a tea party and rotten tomatoes from her family garden. We made a lot of memories in a short amount of time.

This is a picture of our kindergarten class, the year we met. Check out that cheesy grin 2nd from the top left and Rebecca is the 4th one from the top left.

This is a picture my mother took of Rebecca and I when my mom was starting to get into photography. It was taken in the photo studio out back of my house. Check out my humongous glasses. I think we were in 5th grade here.

This picture was taken on a trip to the valley for Legislature. We had never been to a mall together before and went crazy in a photo booth.

I know this picture is tiny... I actually got it off of facebook. One of my friends posted it and I just had to have it. It was taken on our 8th grade graduation commencement evening. That's me in the purple dress. Yes the one that has bare arms and shoulders while all the other girls are right out of the pioneer era LOL. Rebecca is next to me in blue and white. I still have this dress and my girls have played dress ups in it for years.

After 8th grade graduation I moved to Phoenix and only saw Rebecca a few times over the next few summers. This picture was taken during one of those trips.. I think we were around 14 and had been doing chores at Rebecca's house. I had the bright idea to look like maids for some reason. Thus the apron and bandannas.. Check out that vacuum cleaner in the back ground. Somehow we managed to see each other when she came to the valley and we were able to do batisms for the dead, attend girls conference at NAU and even hung out at Sun Splash once. We also wrote a lot of letters to each other. I'm amazed at how we were able to keep our friendship going even though we lived 4 hours away from each other.

After High School Rebecca moved to Safford AZ and met her husband Scott Evans. They married in 89 and started their family. All along the way Rebecca and I have stayed in touch with phone calls on each others birthdays and Christmas cards every year. About 10 years ago we decided to visit Rebecca in Safford and had a wonderful time getting to really know each other again. We have since made 4 trips to stay with them and always have a great time. We have children that are all around the same ages and Rebecca's oldest son and Ammah seemed to have hit it off and have even dated a few times. Rebecca and I have had little (imagine if) conversations about the two of them.. We could be in-laws someday... How cool would that be! No pressure Ammah and Dallin. Wink Wink. Anyway, this picture was taken at our most recent visit over the 4th of July. What an amazing journey in friendship we have had. A little older, a little more filled out (ha ha) but somehow still those same little silly girls from all those years ago. We haven't really changed all that much.