Nothing to See Here…

At Casa JustLinda, we’re in a flurry of cleaning and organizing.  PURGE PURGE PURGE!

In order to be able to do that, I am going through everything.  And part of everything is a box of notes and letter, cards and other mementos.  I’ve spent the afternoon reading, laughing at what dorks we were, and even crying.  There is a lot of heart-wrenching stuff, the correspondence during the split up of my first marriage.  But also stupid, funny, goofy notes passed in school.  I’ll have to pull out a few gems to post in the coming weeks.

What I have in front of me, however, is not a card or a letter.  It’s a little stack of index cards.  When I see them, it harkens back to a time in junior high when our teacher told us  to write something we like about each kid in the class on a separate index card.  You could sign your name, but mostly it was done anonymously.  Once we had all our cards written out, everyone got up from the desks and walked around “delivering” them.  At the end, each of us had a pile of index cards meant for us, telling us something that our peers liked or admired about us.

For years, whenever I needed a pick-me-up, I would get those cards out and read them.  I loved having those cards.  Those cards made me feel good.

And here they are in my box of stuff.  Do I keep them?  For what purpose?  Do I toss them out?  Whatever will I do if I need a pick-me-up and I don’t have them?

Do you want to know what my 7th grade classmates thought about me?  Well, too bad - I’m sharing anyway ’cause it’s MY blog!  haha  I’ve kept all spelling, usage, grammar, and punctuation true to what was on the handwritten cards.

• you draw good
• You are very smart in school.
• You are definitely not bashful (great) but you are also nice and fun to talk to.
• I like the way you smile.
• Linda - a pretty girl who gets along with the boys.
• your cute
• You’re pretty and nice and you’re a good sport.
• you fall in snow good
• To a real cute person.  Good luck with Scott.  I hope we can be friends.  -Donna
• To a person who’s a born fighter
• to a girl who is good at being crazy
• You’re a so-so volleyball player, but a great soloist (Paradise by the Dashboard Light ring any bells?)
• Good in reading
• You make jokes good.
• nice, cute, and good personality
• to a cute girl who loves to party
• A very creative and artistic person!
• You are pretty funny.
• To a loud mouth.
• You make funny remarks and are a good person to talk to.  -Carla
• Linda, to a funny kid who really has a lot of guts.
• You can pick up guys everywhere you go.
• You’re a good leader and organizer.
• Linda, this is the first letter I’m writing to you with the teacher knowing about it but I better get to what I was saying - ASK SCHWAB!  I don’t know what to write on this letter.  Well, I like your friendship, personality, reputation.  -Peggy

I always wondered who it was who thought I could pick up guys everywhere I went, because I so could not!  And I’ll be damned if, at age 42, I can remember the falling in snow incident but it must have been hilarious, huh?  But some of those other words… funny, crazy, smart, creative, loud, lots of guts, artistic, good leader, good smile…  those words bolstered me up when I got low.  Here I am forty years later and I hope those things still describe me.

I thought I was so old then, so mature.  I was twelve, people - TWELVE.  In so many ways, though, I’m still that same little girl.

Man, it goes fast.