My first best friend, Mandy

I have had this song stuck in my head all day long for some reason. Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". I love that song...always have and always will. It makes me think of my best friend growing up. What they said in one of my favorite movies/books of all time "Stand By Me" is true....you will never have friends like you did when you were 12. Well, I met Mandy in kindergarten actually...we were both standing at the water fountain and she looked to my 5 year old self like she could be a lot of fun and really nice. So, I went up to her and straight out asked her if she wanted to be my best friend...lolol..it makes me laugh when i think about it now because can you as an adult picturing yourself having enough courage to walk up to a complete stranger and ask them to be your friend?...I know that I would not have the guts to do that now. Well, of course she said yes and we became the best of friends all through elementary school. Most all of my childhood memories have Mandy in them...sleepovers, birthday parties, gymnastics, brownies (girl scouts), and countless recess times at school. Well, one day at school we both decided that we wanted to try and leap frog over these cement poles that were all in a row lining the driveway to the school. Most of them were not all that tall, so it wasn't really a big problem for us. However there were a couple that were about as tall as we were ourselves...which made it a challenge to say the least. We were both a little scared to try to leap over those ones. I remember quite a few recesses we spent trying to convince ourselves to just do it and be brave. I remember standing in front of the pole and Mandy waiting for me on the other side of it trying to help me do it...and she started singing "Time After Time"....lolol...she sang "...if you fall, I will catch you! I will be waiting!" I have no idea why that memory sticks in my head to this day. It's there though...and everytime I hear that song, I instantly am transported to that sunny afternoon at recess at school with Mandy. I love how much power music has. Mandy and I eventually made it over those poles...she did wind up hitting her head on one of them if I remember correctly though. In any case, we wound up going to different Jr. High schools because of the areas we lived in...and we lost touch for that time. We went to high school together again...but by that time we both had made new and different friends and it just wasn't the same. I now have her as a facebook friend though and we talk every once and a while. I hope she knows though how much she meant to me back then...she was the greatest friend I had and I wouldn't trade those memories I have with her for anything. It's funny where life takes you sometimes...all the different directions and paths. Anyway, I hope that Emma's friends that she has now will turn out to be as awesome as Mandy was to me and will always be there to catch her if she falls.