12/27/09 - I remember #3 & #4

I remember my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Hedges. She was old and short with really tall, curly grey hair. Her serious old-school strict demeanor made us all afraid of her and dread the fourth grade from the time we entered first. I also remember learning big things in her class. Important things like geography, the solar system, and pollution. We did not just read a story in her class, we had to learn about author. We also took some big tests for which we actually had to study. I remember secretly liking it all.

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I remember about 15 years or so ago, my cousin Nicole, in all her amazing thoughtfulness, treated me to a sort of spa treatment one evening in her apartment in Chicago. I forgot why she thought I needed it (must have done the trick). I am not a "spa" kind of person, but I enjoyed her company and didn't argue. When I arrived, she had a hot bath drawn and dinner in the oven. It felt so awkward for me to take a bath solely for the sake of pampering myself, at a friend's place, nonetheless. I did it anyway so as not to make her feel silly for being so gracious. When I came out, warm and refreshed (way more than anyone could have convinced me I could have been), she had this buttery, lemony, perfectly seasoned, wonderfully fluffy Orange Roughy ready. It was the best fish I ever ate - to this day. I wanted to lick the pan after we finished it. I actually remember staring at that pan and contemplating the idea.

Female friendships are brave and beautiful. We take risks. We love with acts of kindness. We often do for each other what we wish our men would do for us, without worrying about perception or rejection. I've been hugged by, kissed by, held by, massaged by, pet by, pampered by, scrubbed by, held together by, comforted by, enjoyed by, cradled by, loved by women unself-consciously. I think that in these ways and many more, we are the stronger sex.