Angie's Having A Boy!

Some of my very best childhood memories are from my days at Miss Alma's. When I think about my days at her house my heart literally smiles. There were about ten or so girls that she kept after school and in the summers. My memories of my days at Miss Alma's go back to before kindergarten.

We spent the summers swimming in the pool and dodging cow pies as we ran through the pastures.

We'd have and entire Barbie village set up in the playroom.

We'd sneak Big Beth's horror movies and watch them while someone looked out for Miss Alma. Yep, that was where I saw my first Nightmare on Elm street movie.

We were all there together the day of the Challenger disaster.

We'd huddle up in the laundry room and tell ghost stories.

We ate muscadines from her vines until we were sick.

We'd hide in the corner of her bedroom and make prank calls.

We played LOTS of practical jokes on each other, we were really quite mean come to think of it.

Day after day we acted out every single line to Annie, I was Mrs. Hannigan.

Miss Alma baked each one of us a cake on our birthday. She would bake it in a tube pan, when it cooled she'd fill the center with marshmallows and frost it. The best!

My first major injury happened at Miss Alma's.... Angie slammed my finger in the door and ripped my finger nail right off! I had to go to the emergency room and everything. My right thumb nail still shows the proof.

When we started kindergarten the teachers at Cornelia Elementary had a meeting about us, which I only just found out about. They knew that there was no way that they could handle all of us together. They said "we've got to break up that Miss Alma click.... they'll be running the whole school". They didn't separate Angie and I though. I remember one day that we had to spend the entire day in the office because we were talking during the pledge to the flag, but it was important!

Miss Alma was a saint to put up with us girls.

But we all grew up. We went our separate ways. Some I still see occasionally. One was Jackson's kindergarten teacher.

I'll never forget the evening at church when Angie's mom came up to me and said "I'm finally gonna be a grandmother! Angie's gonna be a really old mother!" I'm so excited for my dear friend. She and her husband will be amazing, wonderful, loving parents. My one wish for Merritt James Murphy..... to have life-long friends like the ones we made at Miss Alma's.