A Baby and High School

I spent this past weekend in the lovely little town of St. Charles, IL. How the heck did I end up in St. Charles, IL you may ask . . . well it was because of a baby and high school. No, I don’t have some secret child stashed away in St. Charles! This trip started out with a conversation I was having with a pregnant girlfriend who was telling me that her baby shower was going to be in St. Charles and gee, wouldn’t it be great if I could come. The wheels started to turn. Hmmm, doesn’t my old (not her, just a time in the past) high school friend who recently found me again, live near there? We’ve been talking about trying to get together to see each other . . . it’s been a few years, ok a lot of years, since high school when she had to move away. Folks who know me know it doesn’t take much to convince me to take a trip.  After a quick email and a check of flight schedules, I was off to see an old friend and attend a baby shower.

Chris was my high school girlfriend who lived across the street and was there for more than one “first” in my life. We tried out smoking and drinking together, fell in love with boys and had our hearts broken together. We borrowed each other’s clothes (she wore my brand new peach Bobbie Brooks before I did!) and skipped school together. When she moved away, I was so sad. I remember calling and asking her permission to date a boy she had dated and “broke up” with, because I felt like I would be betraying her by going out with him without her blessing. By the way, he didn’t work out for me either!

Our lives went in very different directions; she lives in a small rural town on a farm and has lived in Illinois since she moved away. I’ve lived in seven states and two countries since then. She became a mom and just by the way she talks about her sons, I can tell she’s a good one. Her son, Tony was very concerned that his mom was going away by herself to meet with a “virtual stranger”. He said, “You know there are a lot of weirdos out there mom!”. Hopefully by now she’s convinced him that I’m basically harmless!

Within five minutes that sixteen year old girl I remembered so well was back and it felt like we just picked up our conversation right where we left off. Except this time there was no passing notes or scheming about how to sneak out to a party!