One S One H One E One R One I

Thursday evening -- and late into Friday morning -- I had the awesome opportunity to visit with one of my oldest friends, Sheri (see title for spelling) and her family, who stopped by one their way back home from vacation to spend the night with us. We barbecued, we chatted, chatted some more, and talked till 2 in the morning. The last time I saw Sheri was maybe 8 years ago. Now, even though we were both 16 just yesterday, she has one child about to begin her senior year in high school and another starting 6th grade. Wow. How does that happen?

Oh, and mom -- Sheri said to say hi.

OK, this blog entry will not be complete without a few memories that Sheri and I share:

* Junior year English class, writing notes to each other in Shakespeare-esque language while Mrs. R droned on and on in her unescapable monotone. Statements like this appeared in our notes: "Wilst thou comest to my abode after schooleth?" and other such rot.
* Canoe trip with Explorer Post #4 down the Current River in Missouri, where we spent one night in a public restroom because of a devastating rainstorm and a frog perched itself on Mrs. R's face (not the same Mrs. R as the one above -- this was a cool Mrs. R). We also lyricized our adventure as follows: "Red water/ Red water/ That's what you get when you go down a six-foot waterfall with sharp rocks at the bottom."
* Touring campsites at Philmont Scout Ranch -- back in the 80s, when campers and staff of the female persuasion at this august scouting famility were rarer than six-footed antelope -- singing "In the Jungle" to sold-out audiences of panting males.
* Driving together to our job at Page Drugs (in my lovely Datsun, named Bernie) during several years of high school. We were usually singing along to an 8-track tape of one of Paul Simon's albums, screaming the chorus at the top of our lungs. We goofed off more than we worked at the drugstore, taking lots of "sample" pictures of people's butts with the Polaroid Land cameras (we had to make sure they worked!), running around the store with feather dusters, etc. There was that one time the pharmacy was robbed and Sheri was almost shot, but I won't get into that one here!
* The morning of our high school graduation, Sheri's mom and mine organized a champagne breakfast for us and all of our friends, who showed up in our pajamas. Surprise! It was a good thing no one was sleeping nude that night . . .

There is much more I could add, but I won't, just to protect the innocent. Needless to say, it was great seeing Sheri again, her family is the bomb, and we should not let 8 years go by without seeing each other again. Maybe another reunion trip down the Current River?