Dang. Look at that. This picture was taken for a calender for a youth group that I was involved in during high school. I was fifteen and those were going to be my best friends for life.
Down front: Lindsey, Tina, Kristina, Sarah, and Maria
On Top: Riki, Tammy(our fearless leader and the wife of our youth pastor), and Me
We were all so sure of ourselves and full of more energy than my six year old son, I swear. Having those friends during my first year at a high school with more than 3000 students made it far less scary than it could have been. We all hung out together and we all looked out for each other.
The summer before I moved to Washington state we went to Florida and that is where this photo was taken. That trip was one of the greatest I have ever had. I remember, being as it was with church, we were not allowed to wear our bikinis and told to go back and put on t-shirts over them. In a sassy pseudo rebellious fit we all went back into our rooms and put on t-shirts UNDER our bikini tops. Wow. We showed them!
Now, we are dispersed amongst four states. I still talk to Sarah and Kristina all the time, being as we are related. But the rest had fallen nearly completely out of my life until last week. Amazingly we are now all friends on the wondrous world of MySpace. Maria was the last one to be found, and sure enough, she lives right down my street. I am convinced now that MySpace is good for something.
I should note, Tammy is not on Myspace, I really doubt she has one or will get one. Also, her amazing husband lost his fight with cancer a few years back. I remember getting an email from Tina out of the blue mentioning that he was sick. She gave me the link to a blog where so many people that he had been a mentor to had posted kind and loving words to he and his family. And although I had not seen him in many years, I cried my way through the posts, recognizing so many of those who had decided to share words about how he and his family had been an amazing influence in their lives.
Anyhow, I think I should post current pics (in the same order) of all of us and I am without permission stealing them all. If you want me to take them down, girls, then we are going to have to have some sort of a reunion and retake a photo together.
And by the way, the calender still hangs on my office wall:
The Pilver 
I wonder how often, in years, that calendar is correct.
Uh, I suppose every 7? Wait…then there’s the leap years.
You just made me cry…..that doesn’t happen often!!! It’s so amazing to think of how young and fearless we were back then and nothing in the world could stop any one of us from doing what we wanted, the whole world was infront of us. I feel as if we lose a large part of that as we grow older and become girlfriends, fiances, wives, and mothers. To all of you w/children embrace their innocence and learn from all that they do, because children really do remind us of what we too once were and what we can be
Yes. We certainly were fearless. Hi Maria!
I am a NUT for nostalgia. So much so that I volunteered like some kind of masochist (sp?) to be in charge of our 20 year HS reunion. (which was in 2006). Love the story. Student Venture is a great organization–good place to develop and maintain your friendships for sure!!
Ohhhh… we were so sweet, young, and feisty… I was just talking to my mom the other day about how hard it was when you guys moved! It was like the bottom fell out of the safe place we had made! Freshman year of high school was for sure my favorite… I was driving in my truck today and I started thinking about the art class that really solidified our tight knit group. The memory of the ‘Bitch-Slut’ spat made me laugh out loud. I miss our youth group, student venture, get aways, bikini’s outside of our shirts, sneaking out to see cute boys, stacking mattresses, Q’s (need I say more!?), backwards hats, flannels, ski trips, sneaking into drive-ins in boxes in Rachel’s truck and mostly all of you! I commend you on your picture thiefery… steal away! Though I do like the idea of a reunion… Love you all!
I love reading your memories. You have such a gift with words. I can actually picture it in movie form.
Thanks Billy, that means a lot.
I agree that a reunion would be fun…. Colorado??? Florida??? I still have this picture too. Too funny… I saw Kim Mikesell at my sisters wedding, that made me stop and watch my mental movies…. I am sure she would like me to tell you all that she is still sensing the animosity…. we had too much fun. I was so sure we were so mature…. Tina’s comment on the Q’s makes me realize how wrong I was!!!