A Best Friend

It didn’t take long for me to make friends. I actually hit it off with a girl named “Rosie” who was a senior. Rosie was very popular and she was kind enough to introduce me to her friends so before I knew it, I was in the “in-crowd.” Just as I had imagined, I found a clique, only without trips to Rodeo Drive and nights on the beach. We did drive out to Modesto to go to shopping once in awhile and we would spend our nights sitting outside in Rosie’s yard having some good laughs. As for my dreams of hanging at “The Peach Pit” like the kids on BH 90210, I would happily settle for the new family restaurant in town named “Good Times.”

Rosie was my best friend in California. She had a great family and their door was always open to visitors, I spent a lot of time there with them and got to know them pretty well. When I was upset or homesick, I knew I could always go to visit Rosie and her family and I would automatically feel better. Her parents were just like mine and constant chaos, laughter and excitement in their home reminded me a lot of my home in New Jersey. I can’t forget to mention that Rosie threw some pretty impressive parties at her house. Technically, a good house party can ease the pain of homesickness any day! There would easily be 50 kids there, dancing, listening to music and socializing. I was constantly being asked questions about New York City and what it’s like and these kids couldn’t imagine that I wanted to live in little Newman, Calif. Of course they got a good kick out of my stories about where I thought I was going to be living. It was pretty safe to say, I wasn’t going to be “discovered” in Newman but the discoveries I made there were so much appreciated.

After I moved back home to New Jersey, Rosie came for a visit and ended up staying for a few months. It was so much fun to have her here in NYC and to show her what my life was like. Rosie and I are still very close. She is now a friend that I am sure I will have for the rest of my life. Now our kids are very close friends even across all these miles! I never imagined I would be HAPPY in this place called Newman, but Rosie was a breath of fresh air and everything changed when we became friends.