SOLC #5 The Power of Teenage Friendships

The Slice of Life March Challenge is hosted by Two Writing Teachers.

Yesterday I wrote about the notes I had saved from high school.  Today, I introduce you to the authors of those notes.

When I was growing up, our town had six elementary schools which fed into one junior high school.  It was during those junior high years when friendships started to change.  It was a scary time because we could easily fall in with the "wrong crowd." My group evolved throughout the next several years, some friends leaving and new ones joining.  The summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I found my group and the eight of us have been friends since.  

We call ourselves The Eight Jelly Donuts, also known as the EJD's.  Our name came from mischievous pranks we did with jelly donuts, but that is another slice.

Junior/Senior Basketball game - I am the third from the top.

We graduated from high school in 1982, and our lives took different paths. Some of us went away to college, while others shared those college years in our hometown.  Some married and started families.  Some moved away to different points across the country - California, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, while others stayed in Indiana. One (me!) even married another one's brother!

Our Senior Prom - I am the third from the right.
And I have no idea why we have our
garters below our knees.

Then...

life happened, and time between gatherings stretched out, just like the miles which separated the eight of us.  We went through a period of time where some of us lost contact with each other.

The year 2000 was approaching, and we decided to celebrate the millennium together that summer.  Seven of us reunited for the first time in close to 15 years.  That weekend was like a two day slumber party - you know, the kind where slumber isn't even thought about.  We had years worth of catching up and lots of reminiscing to do.  Our time together felt like time had stood still, and we were back in our bedrooms, basements, family rooms, and cars sharing secrets and laughing until our stomachs hurt and tears streamed down our faces.  And of course there were jelly donuts!

The EJD's celebrating together 50 years of life.

The last time all of us were together was the fall of 2013 to celebrate the year we turned 50. We went back to all of our teenage hangouts and took pictures like this one in front of the doors of our high school.

There are times when I wonder if we would have become friends had we met for the first time as adults.  I don't think so.  We are different now than who we were as kids, but that is the power of teenage friendship.  I have had many friends throughout my life, but none like the ones I had when I was 13.  Once those friends are in your heart, they have a forever place.

Those are my EJD's.

And that's the power of teenage friendships. 

As teenagers we shared
first loves and heartbreaks, coming of age and becoming young women.

As adults we have shared
weddings and divorces, childbirth and infertility, life and death.

And through it all we have shared
love, laughter and friendship.

To my EJD'S - I know you are reading this, and I want you to remember...