memories

On Friday I was stuck in traffic behind a big black van. It reminded me of the summer before 7th grade and my friend's grandma's van. I think she and her mom and brother moved in with her grandparents that summer. They lived in the neighborhood next to mine so we hung out a lot. I loved going to her house because her mom was young and wore tons of makeup and went out on dates until really late and came home drunk. Her mom also took us, me, my friend and her brother, to the county fair and would buy us a ton of ride tickets and turn us loose. Ah sweet freedom at the county fair. I didn't think I grew up country, but apparently I was wrong. I also loved going to her house because I was in love with her older brother. He was funny and cool and a little bit punk and had the most beautiful eyes. *sigh* Oh. The van. One day we were hanging out at her house and her grandma was going to the store. We asked if we could go with her and she said no. So we went and hid in the back of the van and went anyway. When she (we) got to the store we jumped out and yelled, "SURPRISE!" I think we almost gave the poor woman a heart attack. She was kind enough to call us "little shits" and not kill us like she probably wanted to.

After 7th grade my friend and I went our separate ways. She was a cheerleader, I was a dork who still wanted to hang out with the skater kids. I remember always having a crush on her brother. *sigh, again*

A few years ago a guy I went all through school with died from a drug overdose. I actually hadn't seen him in years but decided to go to his funeral anyway. We had originally met in preschool and then became friends again in 6th grade and didn't really hang out in high school much. Anyway, his funeral was like a really fucked up class reunion. There were people there that I hadn't seen since high school. I ran into some people I had actually liked in high school so we decided to go to the little post-funeral luncheon thing. When we got there we sat at a table and all of a sudden I realized the guy sitting a couple seats down from me was my friend's brother I had been in love with! And he still looked yummy! I said hello and introduced myself and he was very polite and then he got a strange look on his face and said, "Jen? Jen? Oh my God you are a grown up!" which was very odd because he is only 2 years older than me. Apparently it took him a second to realize who I was. We talked and found out we lived two blocks away from each other. We said we would hang out sometime but that never happened. Ah it just wasn't meant to be. Making plans at a post-funeral luncheon is just awkward and strange. Just like me.