This happened when I was in the 6th grade, but I think about it almost every Christmas!
Mary Beth was a new student at school and was in my class. She was friendly, but we weren't what you would call good friends. She was nice and didn't live that far from me, but our paths didn't cross outside of school.
One day in December, I heard that she was having a party. It sounded like it was going to be so much fun! However, I wasn't invited. That was totally unacceptable in my book! How was I going to get on that list?
I thought about it for a couple of days, and then had an idea. My church was having a Christmas service with refreshments afterwards. I'd invite Mary Beth, and then maybe she would reciprocate!
The next day in school I invited her, said we would pick her up and it would be fun! She accepted, but didn't mention her party. Bummer!
Regardless, she came with me and my family that Sunday evening, and we both enjoyed it. Especially the snacks and goodies afterwards! Then we took her home.
She thanked us as she was getting out of the car. She was halfway out the door when she turned back. "Rita, I'm having a party next Friday night. Would you like to come?" I'm thinking 'Is a bean green?' but calmly said, "Thanks, that sounds like fun!" "Great! See you in school!"
Mission accomplished! I was so happy. And the party was just as much fun as I thought it would be. We all brought gifts for the grab bag. Me and another girl planned to snag our own, and we did, ha ha! Hey: mine was a set of my favorite candy bars at the time so I really wanted them! 😋 Delicious!
After the party, Mary Beth and I became really good friends. Of course once you hit high school dynamics change. But we still considered ourselves friends. Even now, we've seen each other a handful of times over the years. I've never told her this story but she reads the blog pretty often so...now she knows what kick-started our friendship!
Happy New Year!
