The Story of Steph....

Last year, my friend Stephanie (Norris) and I decided we should write a book about the adventures we've had together.  We haven't started it yet.  I think it would be a good read.  She and I met in the sixth grade.  We lived in Vermilion, a smaller country town on Lake Erie.  In our town there were three elementary schools that fed into two different middle schools.  We me at Sailorway Middle School in Mr. Karolak's homeroom class.  He was the funniest teacher.  He had one of those mustache's that curled on the ends and he would do things like slam metal film cases together if a kid fell asleep during a movie.  I remember the first day of sixth grade.  It was a new building and all kinds of new kids...new to me anyways.  Our desks were arranged in a double row, semi circle.  Steph and I were in the same row.  Funny how you remember stuff like that.  Back then she went by the name Stephie.  She went by that name up until high school.

Lunch time at Sailorway was typical of most middle school lunch rooms.  We were able to pick our own seats. But when we were done eating we had to wipe off the table and sweep the floor surrounding our table.  I can't remember how we would decided who got that job but I know it was one of the "new" and intimidating things about lunch.  On the first day of lunch I sat with some friends I knew from Valley View - my elementary.  There were a couple of girls from one of the other schools who sat with us too.  Stephie walked by.  One of the girls said, "She is so innocent.  She doesn't even know what an o***** is."  I thought....what the heck is an o*****? (I edited for some of my younger readers.)  But I didn't say anything.  Then another girl said, "She isn't allowed to say the word God.  She says Golly."  I said, "Really!?  Gosh, that is crazy."  Well, long story short, the next day I sat with her.  For lunch that day we had these brownies or something with a thick layer of powdered sugar on top.  One of the first things I ever did was take a big puff of air and blow the powdered sugar all over Stephie and the table.  She was so mad.  She took one look at me and told me I had to clean up the mess.  Needless to say, I wiped the table and swept the floor that day. 

It wasn't long before she and I realized our Grandparents lived one town over from each other in Tennessee.  This was great.  I can't remember if we knew it first of if we just ran into each other in Tennessee.  I do recall shopping at this store (before Oneida even had a Walmart) and seeing Stephie there.  That pretty much sealed our fate at friends.  That meant when I was stuck in Tennessee, if Stephie was at her Grandmother's then we could call each other and even visit each other.  I thought that was the coolest thing.  We have been in Tennessee many times together as kids and as adults.  In fact she was just there this weekend and she might be at my parent's house as we speak.  But I digress....  We are most likely related since the area our parents are from is pretty small.  Somehow our parents did not know each other but my Dad was involved in an accident with Stephie's Grandfather.  Small world, isn't it. 

Oh....I have lots of more interesting stories to tell.  Maybe Stephanie can be a guest blogger and tell a few of her own.