# 27 Class of the Future & My Oldest Childhood Friend

Class of the Future

You know that one class you had that you loved so much that when summer came it was actually a little sad because you knew you were going to miss the people you had been with all year??  That was Ms. Abrams class for me. (I think her name is Biondo now though.)  In 4th and 5th grade I was in "Class of the Future".  Sounds impressive doesn't it? I'm not sure if we were all specially selected for it but basically it meant that we were all in the same class with the same teacher for two years in a row.  It was the best, and most fun class of my elementary school "career".  Ms. Abrams was a new young teacher who had so much energy and she made you look forward to being at school. I still remember a lesson she did about taxation without representation where she told us that another class had come up with a really difficult project for us to do and we were all outraged that they were able to assign us work.  My friend Michelle protested and stormed out of the classroom which shocked us all because she was a really good student and never got in trouble.  The rest of us argued with the teacher and said how unfair the project was and we'd never be able to do all that work.  In the end we found out she had told Michelle to storm out and she used that example to teach us about why the Revolutionary War was fought.  She also taught us the importance of color coding our folders for each of the different subjects... I have to say that was a valuable skill I continued for the rest of my school days.     

Michelle and I our freshman year.

Besides having a great teacher I also had the best classmates that year. That was the first year that I really got to hang out with the girls in my class outside of school.   I still remember going to sleepovers at those girls houses where we laughed, giggled and acted like crazy 10 & 11 year old girls should.  I can clearly remember dancing around at my friend Christy's house singing "I Saw the Sign".  Don't roll your eyes, you know loved Ace of Base too. Yup, Kim, Michelle, Christina, Christy, Brittany, and I were the best of friends (most of the time) for two years. Then sadly we got all got split up in middle school and we were never all together again at the same time.  I did get to stay friends with everyone except Kim, who moved away. I always had homeroom with Michelle. Christina and I went in the same group to Prom and on our senior spring break trip together.  I ate lunch with Brittany.  Christy and I even had classes together in college, but it was never that same group again.  I did get the chance to become better friends with each of them as we grew older, but I always wished we could all be together again.

Christina and I senior year. 

I have two big regrets about that time in my life.  One is that I don't have any pictures of me with any of those good friends. (That's why I had to use pictures of us from high school in this post and I only have pictures of two of them!)  I think someone may have taken a class picture at some point, but I never saw it.  If any of you girls are reading this and have a picture of us from those days, I'd love to have a copy.  My second regret is my biggest one.  There were many times I just wasn't a very nice person.  I could blame some of it on being young and immature, say I didn't know better, but I think I did know better.  I had accepted Christ at that point in my childhood but I don't think I showed His love to others as well as I could have. I wish I would have been more of an inclusive person instead of an exclusive person.  I wish we had less pre-teen drama, and didn't fight over boys who really weren't that important.  I can't take it back, but I am sorry about the feelings that I hurt.   I also hope that I did better showing God's love to others  as I got older and grew stronger in my faith.  

My Oldest Childhood Friend

Since this is the only post that is solely dedicated to my childhood years I had to give a quick shout out to my oldest friend, Laura.  Laura and I have been friends since we were three years old.  We lived on the same street and were attached at the hip during our early years.  We didn't attend the same school, but we did take dance class together and started our very own babysitters club!  I think we really expected it to be like the books.  I remember getting one call during one of our actual "meetings". Laura was an awesome friend and we made a lot of great memories together.  She also had (and still has) a really cool mom who I remember always wanted me to call her Melanie, but I wasn't allowed, my mom made me call her Mrs. Roesch. It's actually still a little difficult for me to call her Melanie!  I wish mine and Laura's lives had stayed more connected but we have moved in different directions and have not seen each other in person since I got married.  I do treasure my memories and I will always count her as my oldest friend. Love you Laura!!