Remembering the good ole days

It's been at least 17 years since I last heard and knew from all of you. And truth be told is that I regret not making an effort in keeping in touch with my childhood friends, and that includes the 1st and 2nd grade classes from Holy Redeemer School circa 1990 - 1992.

Some might think it's a little exaggerated when I say how happy (I mean really happy, what's the superlative for happy? well it'd be a bit more than that) I am for getting a second chance at finding you. It even sounds corny right? But the thing is that those couple of years are some of the best for me.

Before I got to Los Angeles I'd been traveling for about a year with my parents (through Canada, Germany and Switzerland). This was thanks to the financial crisis in the 80's in Mexico, my dad was desperate and wanted something better for us. So for that year before we established in the U.S. I had several buddys, but not a friend-friend.

You guys accepted me with ease as a friend, no questions asked. I still remember the class with Ms. Vallejo, and how we played with wooden blocs and a wooden mouse.

Then first grade with Ms. Hyatt was the best. All the activities in our endless quest to save the planet. The time we made our recycled clothes for some Christmas carrol we sung. The days we had to pick up the garbage in from playground and it was a contest to see who could fill their bag first. Pizza thursday, a slice of pepperoni and some fake lemonade. My first crush. The few fights I got in with older kids and each time you stood by my side.

In 2nd grade things were different. It was difficult and awful because of Mrs. Dierickx (I could swear she hated me). But again I could count on you to make things easier. And then I didn't know how to say good-bye when I went back to Mexico.

And this is probably when I started to appreciate how important you were to me. It was a hard transition to learn how to read and spell in spanish, to learn the customs and how to relate with my new pairs. Some kids made fun of me because of my accent (I was forgetting my spanish after living nearly 3 years in Montrose haha) and they bullied me of course.

I still went to the US in the summer vacations. But I was shy and self conscious, you know an awkward tween with a face full of zits and short in height. And because of that I preferred to avoid anyone.

So now thanks to facebook (who would've known!? hahaha) I got another chance.

Thank you for helping me get in contact with other classmates.

Thank you all for still remembering.