My family moved a lot when I was a kid. I went to four (or was it five?) different elementary schools. I grew accustomed to being the “new kid.” On the positive side, I acclimated quickly. So it was, I had only lived in my house for about seven months and already I had befriended a tight network of friends. With working parents and limited supervision, we were frequently left to our own devices. Often, we would count our pennies and walk ourselves to the local burger joint to split a sandwich. At times we were even abundant enough to afford a Coke or fries.

It was on such an outing that we first saw James Landover*, who would eventually become a dear friend. He was there with two other less-attractive boys whom we hardly noticed. James reminded us of the famous rock star singer, Mike Tramp, of the band White Lion. I still recall our little girl giggles when discussing his tight red Levi’s jeans.

The summer sun freckled our twelve-year-old faces as we left the burger joint that day, with the satisfaction of having requested their phone numbers. Of course, we only wanted James’s, but we didn’t want to be obvious or anything.

Those older boys didn’t go to our school so we really never thought we would see them again. So, imagine my surprise when, on my first day of 7th grade, I came face to face with the 9th grader, James Landover!

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…And so begins the tale of a long and memorable friendship. We would learn a lot from each other, and learn a lot together. He teased me about my banana-yellow jeans and I complimented him on his turquoise jeans. We enjoyed the same music and would sing out loud together, even when there was no music playing. He taught me how to play “Mary Had A Little Lamb” on the telephone (priceless information, indeed!). I taught him to appreciate the finer things in life, like Bon Jovi. He dated a few of my friends, and I dated one of his.

My best friend, Kelly and I hung out at his house sometimes (we saw his older brother in nothing but a towel-that was a shock to our young virgin eyes). We hung out at my house sometimes (not too often because I had the smallest living space). Most of all, we hung out at Kelly’s house (she had a trampoline, a hot tub, AND a cherry tree).