Anita is another friend that went to a different elementary school. We began going to the same schools in 7th grade, and we were also in the band together. Back in those days, being in the band was a big deal, and we were our own clique. A really cool clique, I might add. Anita and I also went to the same church and were in all those youth church activities.
As soon as I could, I graduated high school and college and moved away from Starkville, my hometown. Anita married and had a son and once ran a craft store. Of course, I've never met her husband or son and never shopped in her craft store - I've just heard about them and seen pictures of them. She's undoubtedly done a lot of other stuff, but I don't know about all that. Whenever I went to Starkville, it was to visit family on both sides with no time to catch up. Okay, so there probably was time, but I didn't take it.
Anyhow, this is supposed to be about Anita, so here's what I remember. Anita was super-smart. She probably did her homework and studied and did her assignments on time as evidenced by her good grades. She was a model student who didn't talk inappropriately in class or cut up. She also played the piano and probably practiced for an hour (at least) every day, resulting in her master proficiency on the piano. She played french horn in the band, and was good at that, too. In other words, she didn't ascribe to the "get by on the seat of your pants" studying/piano practicing philosphy that I did.
One might think that all this diligence would make Anita dull and boring. One would be wrong. We were roommates on a church choir trip and I found out that Anita was also a lot of fun. She rolled with the punches on our (probably my) wackadoodle ideas, and I saw that we were not so different - if you ignore the studying/maybe-not-study parts of our personalities.
After high school, Anita was another friend I rarely (if ever) saw. But we've connected over facebook, and I've found out that she's just as nice as she ever was. She's sent me a couple of cards (you know - the kind that you have to put something called a stamp on and some dude brings it to a little box outside your house). Her handwriting is still the same, perfect script it always was. She also emailed me a snow ice cream recipe. But of all the things that I remember and know about Anita, here's the thing that has always stuck with me. I call it the bookmark thing.
Many, many moons ago, I noticed Anita reading a book. She also had a pencil and periodically she would write down something on a bookmark she had in the book. I asked her what she was doing, and she said that she was writing down words she didn't know so she could look them up. It was the most amazing thing I had ever heard. I just figured everyone did the same thing I did - try to figure out what a word meant using its content (and often figuring wrong). I think it was at that point I decided Anita was a genius.
What's the moral of my Anita story? First of all, that smart people are smart for a reason, and can teach you the most interesting thing - if you take the time to listen. Second, that we all have commonalities if we take the time to find them and enjoy each other. Third, that nice people pretty much stay nice - and we really shouldn't lose contact, because we lose a lot more than physical contact. And finally, we really don't lose those childhood friends. Sure, we may not hear from them for decades, but because they were part of our past, they helped make us who we are today. While I still use the "context" method of deciphering a word, I always think about the Anita method and writing down that word for a later lookup.
So that's my Anita Rice story. It's the story of a childhood friend and a little piece of that friendship that has stayed with you for 40 years. It's another story of reconnection and realization that you were never really disconnected. It's a story of remembrance of old times and thanks for the gifts that come with friendship.
And today, it's a birthday card of sorts for an old and renewed friend. Happy Birthday, Anita, and thanks for being you!!
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Today's blessings: Tough butt camp workout; lazy winter day
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