When Using Glue, Make This Face

Me and my best friend, circa 1980.

I still make this face when I’m concentrating (or so I’m told.) We were making peg dolls. [Knitters: If you look closely, you’ll see that I’m wearing a brooch. I made hundreds of these, knitting with toothpicks. I wonder if any still exist?]

Fiona and I did everything together for years. We had matching overalls (hers red, mine yellow) that we wore with striped, long-sleeved t-shirts when we went roller-skating. We spent a good deal of our time upside down both in an official capacity as calisthenics competitors and as playground gymnasts. I have a clear memory of wondering what made me me and not Fiona. We seemed interchangeable.

Fiona has two little girls of her own now. They live in Sydney, and I hope to see them before too long. It’s Fiona’s birthday today: Happy Birthday, dear friend.