November Journaling Month - NoJoMo #1

Well, I'm not really familiar with NoJoMo... but on Em's Open Diary (something else I'm not really familiar with, but she's been using for a long time... it's like Live Journal, I think) a lot of people do it every November.  Basically, it's like a challenge to try to make a journal entry every single day for the entire month of November.  

I thought about doing a NoPhoMo (hehe, I made that up)... and doing it with Photos instead, but I tend to get really frustrated when I can't find good subjects/I am really hard on myself with photography and never like how it turns out.  So, I think I'll stick with journaling.  It's a challenge, and hopefully will provide me with something I can look forward to every day.  My only problem is finding a topic I can write about every day without becoming completely mundane and boring!

That's where you guys come in!!  Tell me something you want to hear about... it can be a question about anything.  Seriously - don't hold back.  It can be personal, it can be silly, it can be dirty... it can be a "what would you do?"  or "would you rather this or that" kind of question... it can be anything!  Leave it in a comment... a question (or two..or three!) about ANYTHING.  Even if you're a stranger... feel free to leave it anonymously!  I will answer every single question truthfully.

So... for today, Day One, I'm going to write about a memory I have.

When I was in 1st grade, at Brandy.wood Elementary, I have this clear memory of something that happened at lunch one day.  There was this kid in my class... we'll call him Sam.  Sam was one of those kids that you didn't want to invite to your birthday party, but your mom made you because you had to invite everyone so that no one felt left out.  One day in the cafeteria, I ended up sitting next to Sam.  I had my best friend, Georgia, on the other side of me.  I was talking to her and eating my cafeteria bought student-lunch.  It was a Friday - pizza day.  (Which, might I add, only cost 90 cents at the time... left me with a dime for either a cookie or two pretzel sticks!)  Sam tapped my shoulder and started talking to me.  I'm not sure what he said to start the conversation, but it somehow ended up with him "being mean".  I ignored him, until he uttered one sentence that has stuck with me until this day, 15 years later.  "Your mom is so fat, she couldn't fit through that door!" he said, pointing to the door to the cafeteria. 

At first, my eyes teared up.  I didn't want him to see, so I turned towards Georgia.  She gave me a sympathetic look and put her hand on my arm.  She was wearing a rainbow striped sweater.  I tried to swallow the huge lump in my throat.  How could Sam say something about my mommy?  My sweet, wonderful, PERFECT mommy.  He didn't even know her!  He hadn't even ever seen her!  He didn't know how wonderful her hugs were!  He didn't know that she would come in and re-tuck my covers every night before she went to sleep!  I tried as hard as I could to collect myself, but he knew that the damage was done, and he was laughing at me.  Tears rolled down my pale cheeks and I tried to take deep breaths.  All I could think about was how perfect my mom was, that of course she could fit through the door.  Georgia said, "Lets go get Miss Banker" and I just looked at her.  Sam had already moved on.  Having successfully ruined someone's day, he simply returned to his pizza as if nothing had ever happened.

I looked down at my lap, and watched the tears drip dark circles onto my pink leggings.  Before  I knew what was happening, I saw a blur of rainbow and Sam was being shoved off of the bench.  As his head hit the bench of the table behind us, his face filled with shock and then immediately crumpled into embarrassment and sobs.  Georgia stood over him, pointing, and said, "Don't be mean to my friends."  She sat back down just as a cafeteria aide rushed over to our table.  Sam had slumped onto the floor, still crying.  The aide took Georgia and Sam to the hallway, and Sam eventually returned, but Georgia did not.  

Georgia and I never spoke of the event again.  I didn't see her for the rest of lunch, and that had been a half-day at school, so I got picked up right when lunch ended.  Even though I moved to a new neighborhood after that school year, and enrolled in a new elementary school, I never, ever forgot what Georgia did for me that day.

So, where ever you are, Georgia - Thank You!  You made me realize how important it is to stand up for those who don't feel strong enough to stand up for themselves.