My First

For a brief period of time in 2nd grade, we (my Mom, Jenna and I) moved out of the house and into an apartment. We lived in the Presidential Square Apartments on South Avenue and I attended Our Lady of Fatima. I was miserable. I was away from my friends and my school and stuffed into a 2 bedroom apartment, forced to share a bedroom with my younger sister. This didn't last long. Once it was decided that we'd move back home with my Dad, my best friend Kellie was ecstatic. She counted the days until I returned to BVM, the school we attended together since Kindergarten. It was the first time in my life that I remember feeling like I had a true friend in Kellie, that our sister-like bond was going to be around forever. Her anticipation was truly flattering.

Now, some 20 odd years later, my anticipation is mounting - anticipation of the arrival of Kellie's baby. In the 26 years of our friendship, we've shared almost every "first". We've done everything together, even down to the day of our own births. Kellie and I were both due on March 17th of 1981, St. Patrick's Day. Kellie was late (March 23rd) and I was even later (April 4th) much to the dismay of my Mom. We went to our first school together, All Saints Nursery School on Main Street in Darby. We were dropped off every morning and instructed to color a picture - a different animal each day. Kel and I made sure to match each other's colors and one day, when I colored an owl using every color of the rainbow, she was not happy. Have you ever seen a multi-colored owl?

The next 7 or so years were chock full of "firsts" as well. Second grade brought to me the predicament of the first boyfriend. A towhead boy named Billy told Kellie that he liked me. One day while walking home, Kel asked me if I liked Billy Scaggs.

"Sure, he's ok."

"No, but do you like him?"

"I don't know, what does that mean?"

And, in front of the gas station on MacDade Blvd., Kellie and I had our first like him conversation, followed by many more, I'm sure.

In 4th grade, Kellie got braces and presented us with our first instance of dealing with vanity and cruel 11 year old kids. She came to school and refused to open her mouth. With the help of a teacher, I convinced her that she'd have to open her mouth sooner or later and she might as well just get it over with. She was still gorgeous, even with the braces. Which were blue, if I remember correctly. In 6th grade, I got glasses and Kellie convinced me that wearing them made me look smart and she wanted a pair of her own.

Summer after 6th grade - my first heartbreak. It was not a boy who broke it, it was surely not Billy Scaggs, it was the news that Kellie's family was moving and she was transferring to a different school for the remaining 2 years. Shocked and extremely sad, I wondered how I was to survive undoubtedly the 2 hardest years of grade school, minus my sidekick. In 7th and 8th grades, you have to change classes! How was I supposed to navigate this daunting task without her!?! We had spent almost every day together since birth and now she was moving a whole mile away from me and attending St. Joe's. Surely, she'd find a new friend, tons of them actually, and forget about me.

Forget about me she didn't and we were reunited in the intimidating halls of high school. Faced with a brand new set of firsts (first locker, first formal dance, first make out session), Kellie and I found formed new bonds with different girls and groups. College brought more of the same. Our lives had taken us on different roads but that didn't change the fact that we started out in the same car. Through the changes, I always had a sense of confidence that she'd always be in my life. Not only in my life, but she'd always have the same familial role, the same deeply rooted connection, the same place in my heart.

Recently I have met the ultimate in firsts - the first realization that I am abruptly an adult. My friends are getting married and having children. Kellie is due on Sunday and very soon, she will be responsible for another life. She is no longer my childhood comrade, but my oldest and dearest friend whose life is about to drastically change. When Kellie broke her ankle in 6th grade, I was there to steady her, to hold her books and her hand. I'll be there this time to steady her, to hold her blankets and her teething rings and her bottles, and anything else that comes along.