Make New Friends, But Keep the Old. . .

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.”
― Alfred Lord Tennyson

My family moved around a lot when I was growing up and in 8th grade I was once again the new kid. But that left-out feeling didn't last long when a girl wearing a blue dress and a sweet smile greeted me, making me feel right at home.

On the outside, she and I look a tiny bit older than we did at 14, but inside not much has changed. That darling friend, Debbie Dustan, now teaches at Frye Elementary in Chandler, Arizona. And finally, finally, finally, I got to visit her school after my weekend at the COD Ranch writing retreat (more about that soon).

I met all four classes of second graders (I think!) and we had a great time. My talks about the Bobs and Nubs led to lots of pet story sharing-- stories which master teacher Debbie then had her kiddos write about in their writers' notebooks. Deandre was a bit stuck so he and I partner-wrote about his cat, Bella. He started out a reluctant writer but warmed my heart with his description of his favorite thing about Bella: that she rubs her head against his arm. He came up with that all by himself!

Here is one photo that shows how much fun we had. 

Deb, my flower garden of friendship blooms with sweet thoughts of you!