7th grade

I went to 7th grade at a school where I was bussed. I didn't know it then but I think that it probably was some kind of integration thing. I also didn't think much about this, then, but the school's name was changed from being named after a black hero, Frederick Douglass, to some other name I can't recall right now. How stupid is that?

It was a pretty rough school. One day I was sitting in the bus waiting to go home and I saw this handsome, blonde guy suddenly get surrounded by a bunch of black kids. They were kicking and hitting. I saw some teacher rush in to break things up. When the white guy emerged he was bloody but still walking and everything. One of the teachers was kind of beat up. I don't know exactly what started the whole deal and why that guy was picked on, but it definitely appeared to be some kind of race-related issue.

I also remember P.E. I hated P.E. P.E was the bane of my existence. I read somewhere somebody said P.E. was like going through a normal day, then experiencing "Lord of the Flies", then back to normal. I'd agree. That's how it felt. I was so bad at everything. For as long as I can remember, when they'd pick teams in P.E., or at any time, I was not only the last chosen, but the team captains would actually fight over who had to put me on their team. They'd say, "You take her!", the other, "No, you take her." Pretty humiliating. I guess it built my character, right? Whatever.

But there were good things in junior high, too. I really enjoyed "chorus". Our teacher's name was Mr. Kicklighter and he really got us enthused. We would stand on our chairs to practice singing. My favorite was when we learned the songs of the musical, "Oliver". I still love those songs.

I had a best friend named Charlotte Pratt in Key West. We would ride bike to each others' house and had very good times together. I can remember doing "Spirograph" with her for hours. We rode our bikes a lot. Key West was a great place for bike riding. We also snorkeled sometimes. I still think about Charlene sometimes and wonder what happened to her. It was so sad saying good bye to her. I remember I was at her house, then she walked me halfway home and we said good bye. When I walked away, sobbing, I forced myself not to look back and I regretted that for so long. Every time I remembered it I would wish I had looked back.

I have some good memories of Dan in Key West. He and Dad built a boat and Dan would take that boat out with different friends. I remember he had a friend named Stefan and another named David. He really loved going out in that boat. He would sometimes go "goostering", catching these things that were kind of like lobsters. He found a whole bunch of beautiful shells that Dad made a "shell shelf" for. We had it in our house for years and then when Dan had his own house it went there. I can remember going out on the boat with Dan a few times. I remember snorkeling off the boat, and diving down to look for the goosters.

Now whenever I think of Dan and the boat in Key West, I remember talking to him about it when he was dying. Dad and I were sitting with Dan, the way we did during my last visit. Dan was kind of worried about things and Dad was trying to help him calm down, telling him not to think about the things that worried him. So I started talking to him about Key West and his boat. I talked a little and then he started talking a little about picking up David and going out in the boat, and how much fun he had. Remembering that time is so sad, but still I am glad to have reminded him about good times in his life.