JOYEAUX ANNIVERSAIRE, CHER PAULA !

Yesterday, September 1st, would have been Paula's 62nd birthday. I spent a good part of the day "with" her ... or at least with my memories and thoughts of her. As I am sure most of you have felt about your loved ones and cherished friends, Paula left us far too soon ... or at least "too soon" in our own minds, despite any great universal plan or wheel of life. Although she does come back to me each time I speak her name, or think of her, or call up her image, of course it is still not the same as having my living, breathing friend next to me, to laugh with, and to share confidences and stories as we once did.

Paula was, both literally and figuratively speaking, one of my oldest (she would hate that word even now!) and dearest friends. We met as pre-kindergarten aged children in Sunday School at the (original) Church of Christ in Childress. Some of my earliest memories are of going to her house, or of her coming to my house, after church, to have lunch (usually fried chicken or take-out 'burgers, depending on whether the lady of the house wanted to cook that day), and then playing throughout the afternoon with the joy and intensity that only children seem able to muster. It was through Paula that I first met Linda Kay, who lived in the next block from Paula's house.

Paula, and Linda Kay, and my cousin Linda Sally and I all attended the elementary school attached to what was then Childress Junior High school. I had also known Pat (whose parents were BFFs with my parents, at least for a while) since we were toddlers, and she joined us at that elementary school, I believe in fifth grade. (Linda Sally's mother, Charlotte, was my teacher that year, although I seem to recall there was another fifth grade teacher, as well). When we entered Junior High, Raenell, Shirley and JoAnn gravitated to our little group. Lynn came along a year or so later, and by the time we were all at Childress High School, we were the Naughty Nine!

Anyone who knew Paula remembers her absolute love of and joy in life, her fearlessness in trying new things, her daredevil sense (shared by others of us, for better or worse) that nothing could possibly hurt her. I remember her throwing herself off the high diving board at the City Park pool, practicing until she perfected the swan dive, the jackknife, the tuck, and of course, the cannonball. We were definitely "water babies" who couldn't get enough of the pool, to the chagrin of our parents who had to cajole and/or threaten us to get us out when it was time to leave.

For a time, Paula and I were so close that our families joked that one of us might as well live with the other. The mayhem which could have resulted from that arrangement probably stifled that particular thought fairly quickly.

As all friends do, we had our disagreements and arguments, which could sometimes become quite dramatic. Once when Paula was spending the night with me, we got into some silly argument over some non-essential subject, and I remember Paula grabbing one of my soft stuffed animals and whacking me over the head with it, while I laughed and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Not even an hour later, we were sharing ice cream, and records, and dreams for our future. That memory will stay with me always, with love, I assure you.

I remember Paula's mother, Lorraine, making Paula's red dress for the "Peppermint Lounge" (our Junior year) Junior-Senior banquet. The dress was drop-dead gorgeous, as was Paula in it, and I hate to think how many hours Lorraine worked on it. Paula went to the banquet with Jackie Petty, and a few years ago I was fortunate to obtain (from Lorraine) a VHS tape (transferred from 8 mm) that showed Paula and Jackie dancing after the banquet. It is truly magical to be able to see her with that red dress swirling with her movements ... and to see the others on the tape ... again, in microcosm, these long years later. At the same time, I obtained a tape (also transferred from 8 mm) from Linda Kay of one of her birthday slumber parties, and there we are, "immortalized" again ... Linda Kay, Paula, Pat, Linda Sally, Pam Hughes, me ... about fifth grade, glorying in fifth grade slumber party revelry. I had the tapes copied together, sequentially, and treasure my copy to this day.

Paula was the Childress friend with whom I was in most constant contact after graduation, although some of the other girls and I had periodic get-togethers, usually when I was visiting there. When Paula was diagnosed with her cancer early in 2001, she inadvertently set in motion a "gift" for the rest of us. I've related previously in this blog (the "BFF" section) how the Naughty Nine (and other friends) all came together one last time as a group, on February 5, 2002. And, after we lost our Paula a few short months later, we were moved to reconnect the bonds of friendship, and most of us nuture those bonds to this day.

At Paula's funeral, in May 2002, her family honored us by insisting that our group enter the services separately, just before the immediate family, and we were seated in a separate section, also at the direction of Paula's family, in loving acknowledgment of our "special" relationship with Paula. Jimmy Smith (Raenell's husband) sang "Peace in the Valley" so perfectly that there was not a dry eye in the house ... not that there were many, anyway. And I ... and the girls ... felt SO honored and surprised that as part of the eulogy, at the family's request, the minister read something that was especially written to place beside and then put into the casket with with Paula, bearing all our signatures. It said, in part:

"We were the Nine ... the 'Naughty Nine' as we liked to style ourselves in those more innocent and carefree days, before pain, and age and life itself swept us up and carried us along, caught in its inexorable current. Not really 'naughty', but more adventurous, and full of fun, and eager to challenge the world and make it our own. We grew to the edge of maturity together, and grew to love each other, and fought with each other, and fought together against those who didn't understand, or didn't care, or were thoughtless or cruel. We were the Nine.

"Time passes, and friendships fade, but throughout the years, there has been a bond that tied us, one to another, even unto death ... even to this day, and beyond. Paula is our first lost sister. But each of us will follow, in our turn. And yet, somehow, the Nine remain, the Nine endure.

"We were the Nine, we are the Nine, we will be the Nine again, when all of us have embarked on that same journey that now takes Paula from this place and time. ... We who remain wish her bon voyage ... until we meet again.

"We are the Nine."

Raenell, Shirley and I rode with Lynn to the cemetery service, lost in our own thoughts and memories for the most part. Lynn parked the car (I was "shotgun", as usual) and we walked slowly toward the grave site. After a few minutes, Lynn and I were looking around, wondering what had happened to Raenell and Shirley. We both looked back at the same time, and saw Rae and Shirl frantically beating on the back window of Lynn's car. Lynn had accidentally locked them in the back seat by tripping the locks as she exited the car. And I believe I could hear Paula's laughter carried on the constant wind ....

Nicki and I discussed this topic before I posted, and we are both hopeful that some of you will add your thoughts, and comments, and memories of Paula. Or, if there is someone of the class you wish to memorialize, please do so. The blog is a marvel, and a wonder, and a means of time travel ... from the past to the present, and ideally into the future. At the risk of redundancy, we truly want to hear your voices ....