waterspitters reunion

From Kindergarten to 2nd grade, there were four of us who always hung out: Tracy Herbold (ers), Shauna Briggs (er), Michele Robinson (spit), and me (wat). We were called the Water Spitters because we'd spit water at boys and talk with our mouths full of water. After 2nd grade, Michele and I switched schools, leaving Shauna and Tracy. Shauna left after 4th grade, and Tracy after 5th. I saw Shauna a few times in jr. high and Tracy once at CRC. But after elementary school, we only got together once--my sophomore year in high school. Last Christmas, Shauna and I had lunch together and on a whim, went to find Tracy's parents' house. We definitely surprised her and had a good time catching up, but we couldn't get a hold of Michele.

Fast forward to November of 2001. I get a call from Tracy saying she ran into Michele's grandma at the supermarket and she told Tracy that Michele had finished grad school in London and was coming back to Sacramento for a month. She was organizing a lunch on Dec. 9 and it'd be great to have all four of us back together again.

Tracy, Shauna and I meet up before going and it's so good to see them all. It's like a TV show where people meet up and just laugh a lot and talk about how everyone still looks the same. The girls look older but you can tell it's still them. And the way they laugh and talk is stlll the same. It's great. We drive up to Michele's mom's house and her mom is outside...I would have never guessed it was her mom but she was waving to us. Shauna and I are cracking up in the car because we have no idea who it is. Michele greets us at the door looking the same, but just older...her hair cut short...but she has the same lively, confident personality as before. Two other friends are there...friends that came after us when she moved to the elementary school and have been close in her life since. Things are a little awkward because she has to accommodate two sets of friends: one who have been kept up with everything that has been going on in her life and then us, who have not seen her in eight years and don't really know what she has been up to except that she was in New York for school.

It amazes me that we are still a part of each others' lives, even in little ways, after all these years. We laugh about elementary school, about the pictures that Shauna gives us from our last reunion...and how old we're getting now. It seems like they all have mutual acquaintances, but I have no idea who they're talking about. Anyway, I'm thankful for those friends...who even though they are not in regular contact with me, can still hold a special place in my heart, and I in theirs.