I remember my first day of Kindergarten as if it were yesterday. I didn’t want to be there.

I was in the morning class and on the first day of school  our parents got to ride the bus with us. I remember I didn’t want to get off the bus. The moms and a few dads walked us into the classroom. I was shy and as we stood in the  doorway I was hiding behind my mom and hanging on to her skirt .As my mom turned to leave I started to panic and that is when a freckled face little blonde girl came over and said,  “hi , will you be my friend and sit with me at my table?” I followed her to the table and over the course of the year we became best friends.

Alison was her name and after kindergarten she moved a million miles away from me never to be seen again.  Our school was being closed so once again I was faced with going to a new school alone. I don’t remember much about the  new school as I was only there a month or so when my parents moved us out into the middle of nowhere land! So once again on the first day of going to my third new school my  mom went inside with me and walked me to the classroom.

From the office we walked down a long hall towards more hallways of classrooms and as we walked the principal was asking me questions. We turned the corner to the first grade hall passed the  first two rooms and that is when I heard a high pitched screeching scream behind me , yelling, “oh Cindy Lou ! Oh Cindy Lou you also moved a million miles away and found me!

That year for Christmas Alison got us both tiara’s and we wore them to school every day!

She was my number one best friend for years. I loved her more than the moon. Many years later I even talked my husband into naming our youngest child after her.

Alison and I don’t talk often but we keep tabs on each other and I still have that tiara she gave me all those years ago . When I am twirling under the moon light feeling of feeling sad & lonely or when I just need to boost my self esteem a bit I put it on and then I feel invincible!

14 years ago after moving back to Washington I connected to another group of friends. Most us went to at least high school together but many of us went from first or second grade all the way through high school together. For years we would meet once a month for a potluck and we would always wear our tiara’s. When going to the potlucks I always wore the tiara that Alison gave me. Sometimes I would add daisy’s or other flowers to it just for. This group of grown women gathered to inspire and help each other in times of need or to just be supportive and to have fun. We gave each other royal titles. I am known as the Queen of Garden Chaos and Pranks.

Its been a few years since we have all gathered and early last week we all got a note that all Queens were requested to paint there toes red and put on our Tiaras at 3 pm on Saturday May 27th to honor our
Paparazzi Queen and friend Robin Austin. 

I had left my duty station at  Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC and was now stationed at Fort Lewis Washington. I remember feeling lucky as Fort Lewis was fairly close to Puyallup, Washington which was were I had called home most my life.

I can’t remember if Peter and I had just gotten married or if we were about to be married. What I do remember is that I wanted to take him to meet my great grandmother Mabel Palmer. I called the nursing home and made plans to visit. I was excited to see her as I had not been back home in a while. While on the phone with my grandmother I asked her if there was anything I could bring her, she requested a box of Kleenex ,some cheese balls and some yarn for her to crochet coverings on wooden hangers.

I was so excited to introduce Peter to my grandmother they shared a love for music. As a child when I would visit my grandmother I would lay on the floor and listen to her play Piano. Peter also loves to play Piano. When we first met he tried to drag me out to places with pianos so that he could play. I knew the two would instantly bond.

I had not seen my grandmother since she had moved into a nursing home. On the way to visit we stopped and picked up a box of Kleenex, some cheese balls and a few skeins of yarn.

When we arrived I instantly gave grandma the cheese balls and the Kleenex and introduced her to Peter. She thought he was very handsome. We were in her room chatting for a 15 or 20  minutes enjoying the cheese balls when a staff member came in and said, excuse me miss, that is not your Grandmother… Your grandmother is over there.  

Oh my goodness, I just stood there not sure of what to do. I could not ask this lady to give me back the cheese balls and Kleenex as I had handed them to her and she was so pleased that we had come to visit.

Peter still teases me about taking him to meet my grandmother and then introducing him to someone else instead. I think he tells this story better than I do. I had forgot the yarn in the car so I was able to give my grandmother something. It has been 30 years since this happened and I can’t seem to remember if my grandmother was annoyed that I gave away her cheese balls and Kleenex. I still have a some of the hangers she made for me with the yarn I gave her. I also have so many fond memories of spending summers with her.

I was working at the assisted living facility in Lakeway, Texas as a medication aide. My job consisted of getting to work at  0500 and making my rounds giving residents medications. Many residents needed medications multiple times a day. By the time I  finished the morning rounds it was time to start with the afternoon medications. This was a job where I needed to be well rested , alert as giving the wrong medication at the incorrect time , wrong dose or with a conflicting drug could be dangerous or fatal. I had to be on my A game!

I was used to going to bed early so that I could get a good night sleep . Things had been going pretty well until some new people moved across the street and down a house.  Their backyard was just kitty corner from my bedroom window.

I generally went to  bed around 2200  and at 2300 I was  awakened by a bark bark bark bark. It sounded like a herd of dogs outside my window. I got up , got dressed and I went down the street to find the barking dogs. I rang the bell of the new neighbors house and  told them that they needed to bring they dogs inside as they were barking continuously and that I needed to be up early. The dog owners told me that their bedroom faces the other way so they cannot hear them bark. I asked them nicely to please bring the dogs inside but they refused. So every night for 3 weeks when the dogs woke me up I would get up, get dressed and go ring the doorbell to ask the dog owners to please bring the dogs inside. By the end of the three weeks I was tired and  sleep deprived. I was using ear plugs but the noise echoed from the dogs backyard into my window. So i decided to get up one last time. I walked to their house . But this time instead of ringing the bell I just stood there outside the gate. The dogs stopped barking. I started to go back home but then they started barking again. So I walked over and opened the gate to the back yard. I noticed a 50 lb bag of dog food on the ground with a circle cut out of the center  for the dogs to eat out of and a huge tub for water that was empty. I looked around the backyard and then I looked at the doggies and I don’t know what came over me but I said, “Go now , be free! ” I walked home leaving the gate wide open.

The next day a friend called me and told me she found a  lovely dog without a collar. She had wanted a dog! A few days later another friend called me and said she had also found a dog and if she didn’t see any signs up she would be happy to keep it. So both dogs ended up with good new owners and I got to sleep!

And now for the confession! Both my friends put up signs that they found the dogs and every morning on my way to work I would take them down.

I never did see any lost dogs signs so I figure those dog owners really should not have had dogs!

The photo of the dogs in this blog are not the dogs I set free.