The Company You Keep

I must have been feeling confident, or maybe brave, that first day, as I screwed the little dangle earrings that my sister had given me onto my ears for the first time.

I was welcomed warmly by the other third graders. I made friends with Kristin, Hazzy, and Emily that day, friendships that would be long-lasting.

Kristin was one of three sisters. Her dad worked for Clarke School for the Deaf and they lived in a beautiful old home owned by the school. I spent many afternoons baking in her Easy Bake oven and throwing the baseball with her and Hazzy. Her mom was from the South and she ran a tight ship. They had a strict set of rules at home, including "black marks" for any transgressions. Kristin eventually followed her roots and attended Wake Forest.

Hazzard was the son of a poet father and a musician mother. His mother came to school in 5th grade and taught us to play the bells. Hazzy played the cello and one day played the theme to Jaws for show and tell. I was puzzled by the fact that this family did not own a television. He thought our old Saab was really cool and one day surprised me by stopping by to see the car and walk me to school. He went to Yale.

Emily was the Jeff to my Mutt. She was a petite, sweet and smart girl who giggled at my every joke. She was the one who took me to free swim at the YMCA on Massasoit Street and showed me her butterfly stroke. I imagine my eyes opened wide as I watched her dive down into the water and emerge like a bird, over and over again. Her mom had gone to Smith and her dad was a famous sculptor and professor there. This was a home where I spent a lot of time and this was a family who expected their own to attend schools like Yale, Williams and Amherst.

Emily easily convinced me to try out for the swim team.

Northampton

OK, so my memory has been a little sketchy up until now. Let me apologize. I will try to improve. This next vision is etched in stone: our family, plus Rima and our cat, Mephistopheles, had been driving for about five hours, from New York state to Massachusetts. (I must confess that I have somehow forgotten Mephy in my prior conveyances. Again, my apologies, for he has been with us for longer than even Rima has.) My brother, Lars, and I were so excited about what was to come that we were commenting on everything new we that we saw as we headed down Main Street past Smith College. A Ped Xing sign caught our eye. That, for some reason, was the funniest thing -- like when you're in a new country or beamed onto a new planet and things look a bit queer. We probably traded jokes until we soon rolled up to the new house, the first house my mom purchased by herself -- on Arlington Street.

It was a slate blue colonial with 2 large blue Spruces in the front. It had a porch that wrapped around from the front to the side, with plain pillars spaced in between and arborvitaes along the sides.

All I remember about my room was that it had one wall with wallpaper, in a girly floral, reminiscent of Marimekko. The other walls were white, and all the woodwork was painted bubblegum pink. This was the reason my mom picked the room for me, that pink. And I had a walk-in closet. Heaven.

My mom made a promise to us that day: we will be staying put for five years. I remember thinking, five years?

The first day of school was the next day. You know when a certain smell resonates? I can still smell that brand new fresh start smell wafting in the open windows of my own new perfect room. That smell of excitement and a new beginning.