You Gotta Have Friends - Part II

This is a continuation of the story I wrote about earlier. Tonight I went to a neigbhorhood Mexican restaurant. Where I was a teenager going to an exotic restaurant meant going to the Panda Chinese restaurant, Cassano's pizza parlor, or Taco Bell! We didn't have Mexican restaurants in my hometown even though we went to school with a small handful of kids whose parents were Mexican-Americans. I enjoy going to this particular restaurant because I can practice speaking my Conversational Spanish there, and all the employees are patient with me. I think they appreciate the fact that I am trying. We had to take Spanish in the 4th grade back home, but I never had anyone to practice speaking it with. When I was in high school I would sit in History class and listened to the Spanish class down the hall singing, (pardon my spelling) "Juan Catamella" then the whole class would clap on cue! I heard them singing that song for months! Ofcourse, today going to a Mexican restaurant is alot more fun for me as an adult because of the Margueritas! My girlfriends from my parish and I shared a pitcher of them tonight. I had a wonderful time, and I'm pretty sure they did, too!

I got to listen to some fascinating conversations coming from these ladies--some of whom I had never met before or was finally getting a chance to get to know better. I thought as I listened to all the ladies tell about their hobbies and careers how far we have come as women! We weren't just talking about raising kids and swapping recipes. One lady belongs to a club that taught her to shoot just like Annie Oakley! She goes to competitions and makes her own costumes! I remember being terrified of guns growing up, but this lady wasn't! My father owned a rifle, but he kept it up in our attic. To this day I don't know what ever happened to it?? One other lady told how she was once in the National Guard. Our kids are all getting older now and less dependent on us. We can explore new avenues and try out new things! We can learn how to do things the right way and excel at things that only appealed to men earlier or were thought to be "manly things to do"--not something to be tried by women! I made some new friends tonight, and I feel very blessed. This was not just another "Girls Night Out" for me! I made some new friends to add to my "You Gotta Have Friends" pool!

I will close with random little story I've been wanting to share for awhile along the lines of the "You Gotta Have Friends" theme. This one is for my friend Debbie (I knew alot of Debbies growing up, but I bet this Debbie I am talking about will read this story, remember, and laugh:

Today we hear about "Amber Alert". In my neighborhood we had something even better to protect young girls from being abducted. There truly is safety in numbers. One summer evening before it got dark my girlfriends and I went across the street from my house and rode bikes and rollerskated on the fresh hardened dry concrete that was part of the flooring of the soon to be completed JVS building. My street shoes were strapped into my rollerskates. Two of our friends came by on their bikes which were equipped with racks that could hold school books or another rider (if you had good balance) over the rear tire! I don't believe this equipment option can no longer be found on bikes today?? More's the pity because it was not only fun and challenging to ride on but saved our lives back in the 1960's on this hot summer evening! A stranger came by in his jeep. He asked my friends and I if we would like to go with him to the Champaign County Fair. We told him, "No". I grabbed onto the back of Patty's bike rack and Debbie grabbed on to the other girl's bike rack. Those girls rode across the streets with only our hands hanging onto their bike racks as our feet skated us to the safety of my driveway! Our skate wheels never moved so fast! Today like back then--you gotta have friends!

Today my friend, Debbie, helps other who need help! She went on to become a social worker!

Good Night, Debbie! And best wishes to your dad who used to call us, "Yardbirds"!