Recently, I took a trip to where I grew up back in the sixties; it was a slower time as a child. It was less populated; the homes were newer as were the schools. It was a place of innocence. I loved the walk to the grade school where I attended. My younger sister and I would begin our stroll by me holding her hand and walking further up the hill meeting up with the other kids that attended our grade school. But of course, our first stop was at my best friend’s home, George Ann.
George Ann was my very first best friend since grade school. We were in classes together, played after school, and on weekends. We did all things friends would do; Girl Scouts, 4-H Club, running free, and playing as children should. And since our birthdays were separated by few days, we even had birthday parties together.
She and her family had such a wonderful home. I remember her bedroom. It was in front of the house on the top floor. Her room actually began with little stairs about three steps up that led into her room. It was as if it came from an imaginary storybook. She had one little window that looked out to the long street we lived on. Her bed had many stuff animals. Her mother made the effort to decorate her room with the entire little girl qualities a female child would want. She had dolls, tokens, and mementos from trips to Florida. She had more toys than all my siblings put together did. We would play for hours.
George Ann was very talented too. She played piano and took lessons from the piano teacher that lived behind our home down the street. Phyllis was a good woman. I remember she would let me play with the dolls she had in her collection cabinet. “Be very careful. These are special dolls; dolls from all parts of the world”. This is what I would do while she was giving another child piano lessons. I had to wait my turn since I was getting free lessons. Phyllis knew that my mother did not have the money and that I had a father who would never ever accept the idea of his child taking piano lessons. However, when he was away on a trips from his job, which were often, those were the times I learned piano. I had a natural gift. Even with my siblings, I was the one that someone could see that I had the desire and love for music.
The name Ziggy was an unusual name around our area during the sixties and long before the name Ziggy was popularized by the comic strip “Ziggy”. Ziggy was a Labrador retriever that Phyllis owned. He stayed near his home but would always come over to our house and play with us. Always, while my father was away. We were not allowed to have pets. Therefore, in a way, Ziggy was our dog too. George Ann had a pet bulldog that her grandmother own. Her grandmother lived with her family, which was not that unusual during this time of history.
But as I drove back to one of the places we lived and passed George Ann's house, there was a sign reading, “CONDEMNED PROPERTY”. I would have never dream to see such a sign.
George Ann developed her talent as we grew up. She learned to play the cello and was instrumental in me singing, along with her father, Charles in their home church. The same church that back in the sixties, if children wanted to go to a kindergarten, they went to a church to receive an early education. It was a Presbyterian church. My family and I were not affiliated to any church or religion. It was just something my parents did not encourage. But George Ann’s family was very encouraging. Even my little sister went.
George Ann and I graduated from high school together. After that, she moved to Florida. I often think about George Ann and her family. Both her parents had already passed on. And now George Ann. Now gone to heaven, too. She left this earth in 1994 at the age of forty years. She had been living in Florida, a place she and her family always took vacations. During her life, she played in a symphony, had lost a new born baby, and soon after lost an older husband.
After all that she was alone fighting cystic fibrosis. But she managed to start a Furniture business. And later began singing in nightclubs. Was it her last swan song? Still later, she taught music to students on an individual basis. It was during this time she was waiting for a lung transplant. She was finally fifth in line at Duke University Hospital. Then the day came when the call came for her to make the final trip for a lung transplant. She made her final journey. But she did not even reach that point of receiving a lung. She died from pneumonia while waiting for surgery. I think of George Ann a lot even though it has been years since her death from cystic fibrosis. She was cremated and had a memorial service at the Presbyterian Church we had went to kindergarten. Her ashes, of course were thrown into the ocean off the coast of Florida.
You never forget your first best friend.
George Ann was my very first best friend since grade school. We were in classes together, played after school, and on weekends. We did all things friends would do; Girl Scouts, 4-H Club, running free, and playing as children should. And since our birthdays were separated by few days, we even had birthday parties together.
She and her family had such a wonderful home. I remember her bedroom. It was in front of the house on the top floor. Her room actually began with little stairs about three steps up that led into her room. It was as if it came from an imaginary storybook. She had one little window that looked out to the long street we lived on. Her bed had many stuff animals. Her mother made the effort to decorate her room with the entire little girl qualities a female child would want. She had dolls, tokens, and mementos from trips to Florida. She had more toys than all my siblings put together did. We would play for hours.
George Ann was very talented too. She played piano and took lessons from the piano teacher that lived behind our home down the street. Phyllis was a good woman. I remember she would let me play with the dolls she had in her collection cabinet. “Be very careful. These are special dolls; dolls from all parts of the world”. This is what I would do while she was giving another child piano lessons. I had to wait my turn since I was getting free lessons. Phyllis knew that my mother did not have the money and that I had a father who would never ever accept the idea of his child taking piano lessons. However, when he was away on a trips from his job, which were often, those were the times I learned piano. I had a natural gift. Even with my siblings, I was the one that someone could see that I had the desire and love for music.
The name Ziggy was an unusual name around our area during the sixties and long before the name Ziggy was popularized by the comic strip “Ziggy”. Ziggy was a Labrador retriever that Phyllis owned. He stayed near his home but would always come over to our house and play with us. Always, while my father was away. We were not allowed to have pets. Therefore, in a way, Ziggy was our dog too. George Ann had a pet bulldog that her grandmother own. Her grandmother lived with her family, which was not that unusual during this time of history.
But as I drove back to one of the places we lived and passed George Ann's house, there was a sign reading, “CONDEMNED PROPERTY”. I would have never dream to see such a sign.
George Ann developed her talent as we grew up. She learned to play the cello and was instrumental in me singing, along with her father, Charles in their home church. The same church that back in the sixties, if children wanted to go to a kindergarten, they went to a church to receive an early education. It was a Presbyterian church. My family and I were not affiliated to any church or religion. It was just something my parents did not encourage. But George Ann’s family was very encouraging. Even my little sister went.
George Ann and I graduated from high school together. After that, she moved to Florida. I often think about George Ann and her family. Both her parents had already passed on. And now George Ann. Now gone to heaven, too. She left this earth in 1994 at the age of forty years. She had been living in Florida, a place she and her family always took vacations. During her life, she played in a symphony, had lost a new born baby, and soon after lost an older husband.
After all that she was alone fighting cystic fibrosis. But she managed to start a Furniture business. And later began singing in nightclubs. Was it her last swan song? Still later, she taught music to students on an individual basis. It was during this time she was waiting for a lung transplant. She was finally fifth in line at Duke University Hospital. Then the day came when the call came for her to make the final trip for a lung transplant. She made her final journey. But she did not even reach that point of receiving a lung. She died from pneumonia while waiting for surgery. I think of George Ann a lot even though it has been years since her death from cystic fibrosis. She was cremated and had a memorial service at the Presbyterian Church we had went to kindergarten. Her ashes, of course were thrown into the ocean off the coast of Florida.
You never forget your first best friend.
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