We Met at the Drinking Fountain in the Third Grade

We met at the drinking fountain in the third grade, Nancy and I. I'll never forget that. I had a best friend in second grade, but the summer between second and third we moved to the other side of town and my brother and I started in a new school. So since third grade we have been friends. I can't wait to see her. We are going to meet for lunch in the middle of next month. I am blessed to still be friends with the friend I met at the drinking fountain in the third grade. To still be friends after all these years is really a gift. I don't remember anything about our conversation or anything like that, just that that's where we met. I am way over time tonight. I have to get some sleep. I just can't adjust to school day hours and I am getting to bed at a reasonable time. But I keep getting tired in the middle of the afternoon and I have just bought a 12-pack of Mountain Dew. And that is serious business, because I once broke an addiction to Code Red Mountain Dew, and now, here we are again. I'm really in a fix. So, meeting Nancy was the main thing that happened in the third grade. The main thing that happened in the fourth grade was, well, three things. I've been wearing glasses since the fourth grade. I'll never forget the first time I put them on and everything wasn't blurry anymore. I could see leaves on trees! My mother told me it broke her heart. It breaks mine thinking about that now. If it wasn't that I couldn't see the board at school, nobody would have probably ever known. The other thing that was happening in the fourth grade was that I had a boyfriend. We made Valentines for each other at school and we rode the bus downtown together to watch a movie and then went to his house and his mom made milk and cookies for us. But then his mom ruined our relationship by demanding that he dance with one of my rivals when I was in Colorado with my dad and his wife and her kids.That's another story, but I do give her a little bit of the blame for that. The most life-changing thing that happened in the fourth grade, at least as I remember it, was when I first heard the word divorce and my dad moved out. That was utter devastation. I have survived as children often do, but the truth is, they never really get over it, and I am proof of that. I'm not going to go into that either because people would just say that's ridiculous, children are resilient and you came out fine. Well, I didn't come out fine, for one thing, and the only reason I'm still here is by the grace of God, and I say that with complete confidence. I have no doubt. My very own half-sister died by suicide and both my half-brother and my full brother don't speak to me for different reasons, both of them not good reasons not to talk to me anymore. I started the suicide prevention training today, and that's what got me thinking about this stuff, even though it's always on my mind at some level. I experienced all the negative emotions and subsequent addictive and dysfunctional behaviors associated with children of addicted, immature and/or divorced parents, and I speak from experience. And I have to stop writing now because it's past time for me to be retiring for the night. I just wish you all a good night and I pray the blessing of the Lord on you and yours, in Jesus' name. Amen. Gotta go.