*TWO'S COMPANY, THREE'S A CROWD

In the fourth grade, there was a new girl in my class.  When I found out that she lived just over the back fence from Jeff, I was delighted.  The new girl was Terry.  Her father was in the Navy and had been transferred to Washington D.C. from Newport, Rhode Island.

Terry and I soon became best friends.  We walked to and from school together, ate lunch together, and became obsessed with the Mouseketeers  and the Mickey Mouse Club together and were more or less inseparable. Terry had stawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles. She was also a whole head taller than me. But the height difference didn't keep us from telling people we were twins...even though we didn't even look like sisters, much less twins. We had a great time doing all the stuff that girls do when they are nine years old.

In the fifth grade, there was another new girl in my class.  Cecilia had moved into the house on the other side of Jeff.  I was really happy.  Now I had two girls my same age as neighbors who were also in my class.  What could be better?  I was sure that the three of us would be like the three musketeers.  But I quickly found out that wasn't going to be the way it was.

You see, Cecilia was an only child.  And in looking back, she was an only child who was used to getting her way and didn't know how to share very well.  While I wanted to be like the three musketeers with her and Terry,  Cecilia had a difficult time being best friends with more than one girl at a time.  A rivalry soon developed with Cecilia over who would be her favored friend...me or Terry. Cecilia was always at the center as the master manipulator.  If you were out of her favor, Cecilia was able to get the favored friend to ignore the other, say and do unkind things, almost to the point of shunning the unfavored girl. Some how the rivalries became known as "Wars", almost like they were a strategic and calculated event. We had plenty of "Wars" between the three of us for the entire fifth grade.  Most of the time, I was the one defeated.

Our fifth grade class picture pretty much tells the story of this three way friendship. In our fifth grade picture, Terry and Cecilia are standing next to each other on the back row.  I'm on the middle row at the opposite end.  The picture must have been taken when we were in a "War".  It would also appear from the picture that Terry and Cecilia had decided that they would really dress up for the picture...something that best friends would do...since they were both dressed in Sunday best.

Fifth Grade Class Picture - On the back row, third girl from the left is Terry, the  fourth girl from the left is Cecilia. I am on the middle row, fourth girl from the left. 

Fifth grade was a painful year.  I had other friends in my class, but none of them lived near by. When "Wars" were going on, I had to walk to school alone or with younger kids in the neighborhood.  The other girls in my neighborhood were a year younger and I did spend some time with them.  But it hurt to know that Terry would be watching the Mickey Mouse Club with Cecilia or playing with Cecilia's large collection of small, ceramic animals. There were times when we could all happily be the three musketeers.  But that never lasted long.

Before the sixth grade, Cecilia had moved.  Terry and I were once again best friends with all that had gone on between us the previous year forgiven.  We remained best friends until her father was transferred again when we were in the eighth grade.