Many, many, many years ago, I entered a new phase of m
y life when I walked down a hallway and came upon a door that said A1-209. Upon opening the door, I was met with the most angelic smile....one I'll never forget. It was the face of Sr. Joan Margaret who would be my homeroom teacher for my freshman year at Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School. I'm posting this picture of Sr. Joan because Paula and I just loved her so very much. In looking for my seat (alphabetically arranged, of course), I came upon another face which was definitely not as angelic as the first one I had seen. It was the face of someone who would become one of my best high school friends. I dedicate this blog entry to my dear friend Paula or, as we sometimes called her, Polly. Paula is the last of the BFON8 that I have written about during this past year. By the way, if you're new to my blog, BFON8 stands for "Best Friends of Nancy" and there are 8 of them!!!!
y life when I walked down a hallway and came upon a door that said A1-209. Upon opening the door, I was met with the most angelic smile....one I'll never forget. It was the face of Sr. Joan Margaret who would be my homeroom teacher for my freshman year at Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School. I'm posting this picture of Sr. Joan because Paula and I just loved her so very much. In looking for my seat (alphabetically arranged, of course), I came upon another face which was definitely not as angelic as the first one I had seen. It was the face of someone who would become one of my best high school friends. I dedicate this blog entry to my dear friend Paula or, as we sometimes called her, Polly. Paula is the last of the BFON8 that I have written about during this past year. By the way, if you're new to my blog, BFON8 stands for "Best Friends of Nancy" and there are 8 of them!!!! Paula was
everything I wanted to be. She was cool, she was tough and she was popular. But as tough as she was, she had such a sweetness about her which only her real friends got to see. You had to crack down that outer exterior to get to the real Paula. I was one of those people who was fortunate enough to break through her wall and become her friend and I truly considered it a privilege. She lived in Ozone Park, Queens while I lived in Brooklyn. Of course, we weren't permitted to call it Ozone Park as it was better known as OZ (and it's not pronounced like the place where the wizard lived)....the letters are pronounced as "O" as in Ozone and "Z" as in the second letter of Ozone.
everything I wanted to be. She was cool, she was tough and she was popular. But as tough as she was, she had such a sweetness about her which only her real friends got to see. You had to crack down that outer exterior to get to the real Paula. I was one of those people who was fortunate enough to break through her wall and become her friend and I truly considered it a privilege. She lived in Ozone Park, Queens while I lived in Brooklyn. Of course, we weren't permitted to call it Ozone Park as it was better known as OZ (and it's not pronounced like the place where the wizard lived)....the letters are pronounced as "O" as in Ozone and "Z" as in the second letter of Ozone. Paula was also Italian and, as my mother once said, I was always attracted to Italians. I loved everything about her then and I do now. Over the years, we lost track of each other but reconnected thanks to the Internet and classmates.com. We've emailed each other numerous times during those years and were fortunate enough to see each other again at our high school reunion a few months ago. I can't even tell you how great it was to see her and to be in her presence. I have always been in awe of her. We took pictures that day and I purposely put them aside so I could use them in my blog. Today I practically ripped my entire house apart trying to find them....but to no avail.
Yet Paula's life has had some extreme sadness in it having lost a son who was a civil servant and worked very closely with helping those involved in the 9/11 tragedy and working at the site day after day in its aftermath. I can't definitely say that's what caused his death but I think Paula is quite sure of this. It just makes me so sad to know that she has to live with missing him every single day.
But, there's always a silver lining and there is something in her life that brings her so much happiness and that's her daughter and granddaughter. I'm just so happy that Paula has this in her life. I don't think I've gotten one email from her where she hasn't mentioned this precious little thing.
We also have something else in common as Paula's husband loves to play poker and Paula is great at following Michael's progress in the poker world. I'm so happy to share him with Paula and love it that she gets as excited as I do when he's in a tournament.
I would love to relate some of the things Paula has said to me over the years but
I can't as most of them have been "x" rated (like the E.T.B. on her graduation photo above). I go back and read through my high school yearbook and relive those four years with her and I just want to cry. I loved every single minute we spent at that school. Most of these memories, however, happened at a pizza place called Steve's where we would go most days after school to get together but we were primarily there to smoke cigarettes before heading home. This picture was taken outside of Steve's with the whole gang. Can you imagine pizza being 20 cents a slice? Unfortunately, Paula was the one taking the picture so she's not in it. I'm in the middle with the blonde hair and no uniform on. I asked her why I didn't have on my uniform and she told me I was probably getting some stupid award that day. While it really wasn't that cool to be smart, we always tried to downplay it.
I can't as most of them have been "x" rated (like the E.T.B. on her graduation photo above). I go back and read through my high school yearbook and relive those four years with her and I just want to cry. I loved every single minute we spent at that school. Most of these memories, however, happened at a pizza place called Steve's where we would go most days after school to get together but we were primarily there to smoke cigarettes before heading home. This picture was taken outside of Steve's with the whole gang. Can you imagine pizza being 20 cents a slice? Unfortunately, Paula was the one taking the picture so she's not in it. I'm in the middle with the blonde hair and no uniform on. I asked her why I didn't have on my uniform and she told me I was probably getting some stupid award that day. While it really wasn't that cool to be smart, we always tried to downplay it. The song Hey Paula came out the year before we started high school. When it came out, I had never met anyone with that name. Once we met and became friends, I could never hear that song without thinking about her and without a smile coming across my face. The flip side of that 45 was a song called Bobby Is The One and Bo
bby was the name of my boyfriend when I was a freshman so that record had a double meaning for me.
bby was the name of my boyfriend when I was a freshman so that record had a double meaning for me. I think if I had a wish it would be to see Jersey Boys once again and this time to see it with high school friends......the girls I lived through all of those songs with. I can just see me sitting there with Paula on one side and Ellen on the other. That would be heaven to me.
So toda
y's Paula's birthday. I want her to be happy today. I want everything to be good for her. I want to be there with her and give her a hug and tell her how much she's loved. I'm just so happy she's back in my life and I hope to be able to add some happy days to her life. Together we were a great team. My whole life, I'll never forget a minute I spent with Paula which is truly the sign of a true best friend.
y's Paula's birthday. I want her to be happy today. I want everything to be good for her. I want to be there with her and give her a hug and tell her how much she's loved. I'm just so happy she's back in my life and I hope to be able to add some happy days to her life. Together we were a great team. My whole life, I'll never forget a minute I spent with Paula which is truly the sign of a true best friend. This is the card I would pick out for Paula today. The front says it all.
Happy Birthday my dear friend......Enjoy!!!!
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