Snippets From My Past....according to Carol

The first five years of my life I lived on Georgia Avenue in West Palm Beach, Florida.  My house was directly across the street from Palm Beach High School.  When I was five we moved across town to El Prado.  It was just El Prado....not a street, road, avenue, blvd...just plain El Prado....but some of the greatest moments of my life happened right there....on that street.  Seventeen years ago, on my fortieth birthday, my friend Carol sent me a scrap book of memories.  She has a remarkable memory for details that I lack....or maybe it is that I remember it differently...who knows....I was reading through this the other day and thought I would share some insights into life of Karen with you....remember this is through the eyes of another.  I feel I owe Carol a great debt for filling in some of my gaps....so from time to time...I may pull the book out and relive a time when the living was easy. "Once upon a time in April 1954 on the 15th day, Karen Leigh Sasser was born in West Palm Beach, Florida.  She had a wonderful mommy and daddy, Wilma and Fred Sasser.  In Miami, Florida later that year on the 24th of December(almost 10 weeks early) along came Carol Ann Geiger.  She had a wonderful mommy and daddy too - Valerie and Harland Geiger.  Then one winter day about 5 years later Carol moved into the house behind Karen.  They became friends and remained so until this day.  Here's some memories of those growing up years together...."

School Days

"Oh, how long ago it seems now!  We started out at Hillcrest Park for Kindergarten(which wasn't required).  Then there was good ol' Belvedere Elementary.  Remember the lunch chimes?  Recess?  And Miss Lohr's3rd grade was the only class we had together.  We walked to school, read Belvedere Highlights, did homework and participated in art and science fair.  There were Weekly Readers and the Spring and Christmas programs at the Pavilion(either boiling or freezing as we sat on the ground waiting for our turn on the bleachers).  And of course we were proud members of our School Safety Patrol and had our first trip away from home to Washington D.C!  Then we moved on to Conniston Junior High.  We went out and bought our supplies-blue canvas binders, cartridge pens(didn't you like turquoise ink), combination locks, and gym suits(GROSS!).  We changed classes for the first time and got lost at first.  There was chorus with good ol' Miss Findsterwald ("I enjoy being a girl!") and the best part - dances with live bands in the cafeteria.  I remember writing in my diary every boy I danced with and if it was a fast or slow dance.  And there were football games and basketball games and for one year me being part of the snooty cheerleaders (well some of them were).  Go Blue Devils!  Yeah Blue and Gold!  On to Forest Hill High School-on with Falcons - red, white, and blue.  We get to ride the school bus (Wow!) then later drive ourselves.  We joined the Pep Club and went to football games.  I don't think we ever had a class togethe but hung around together on the seats outside and had lunch together.  And we were even allowed to leave school for lunch, too!  There were term papers, finals, SATS, etc.  We wondered where we'd go to college.  We thought Florida Southern maybe.  There were boys, Homecomings.  I joined the Spanish Clubs and you joined the German Club.  We both joined Youth for Christ...working on the float that won first place.  And we graduated with letters from Richard Nixon even!  On to PBJC - Peanut Butter and Jelly college.  We had a lot more freedom there.  We didn't have to show up all the time,.  Remember good ol' Mr. Duncan in lit class in that freezing auditorium with the Big S!  (Shakespeare to others) And we attended programs and assemblies and even took classes like tennis, golf, archery.  Of course I headed to Florida Atlantic for a whole semester and never returned to school...but you continued forward to get your degree and even kept going after that.  I'm proud of you.  Maybe someday I'll enter a classroom again - maybe not."  How funny is it that I teach Spanish today....and have for 20 years....and only took three years of it in school?  I hated Spanish....I took French for a year and German for two....and what do I teach?  Spanish!  Carol took it for six years...and even thought about majoring in it.  Sometimes things don't happen like you thought they would.

Our Families

"I'm sure glad the Sasser's met the Geigers!  I was just a 5 year old shrimpy kid new to the neighborhood who moved into a house behind you.  We said "hi" and the rest was history.  We started kindergarten together soon after...  Our parents would visit each other, drink coffee, drink beer, play careds and went to parties with each other and visited with people like the Wrights, Harrises, Standts, and Driggers. Our dad's went fishing together and out mother's went shopping together.  My parents were Winstons and yours were Marlboros.  Yours were country and western and mine were Robert Goulet.  You mom could sew and mine didn't want to.  WE had a bad year around 3rd grade when you all lost Dougie and we lost Laura. (The sad part here is this is where I have a memories block.  I cannot seem to remember things that happened here...life for me seems to have skipped some spaces....almost like a bike chain lagging.  There are huge chunks of my memories gone....and I am grateful to Carol for allowing me to see them...even if it is through another's eyes.)  We thought we had done bad things or said something bad to make this pahhpen.  I visited with your grandfolks, etc. in Alabama and you visited mine in Miami Beach.  We had a blast with your cousins when they'd visit.  And I must quote some favorite lines of your mom and dad.  Mrs. Sasser:  (when happy - "kay-ren" in a sweet Alabama accent"  Mrs. Sasser: (when mad - "Kare - ren Leigh! in an angry non-accent).  Mr. Sasser:  "I know you are playing possum! "If you don't quiet down I'm getting my belt!" (trying to scare me, right?  then we'd keep on giggling.)"  (I have to interject there that my father NEVER spanked me with a belt...ever....he always threatened....but it did not happen.  I was terrified of his belt til the day he died.).  I am sure each of you can pull up memories much like these.  I have to ask....do you remember when you met your best childhood friend?  I'd love to hear about it, so leave me a comment.  I love stories like these!