JIM'S FRIENDLY MI-5

Jim says: "This 5 is inspired by the fact that I have been able to reunite with many friends from my past via facebook. The Friends 5. If possible answer these without using immediate family members."

1. Would you consider yourself a person with a few close friends or many acquaintance type friends? Maybe somewhere in between?

A few close friends, I guess. I have lots of acquaintance-type friends, too, and they are also very special to me, but the close friends I have are very, very close.

2. Did you have a best friend growing up? If you did tell us about them and what happened to them. Do you know where they are now etc...

I had several best friends growing up. From Kindergarten to about 4th grade, Judy Young was my best friend. She then went to a private Christian school, and I had a really, really hard time being without her. She now lives in Damariscotta with her husband and four children. We keep in touch at Christmas and birthdays, but that's about it. Becky York and I then became best friends, until around our Junior/Senior year of high school. She took all the really hard classes, and I went the business route. Becky now lives in the DC area, I believe, and I have little or no contact with her (unfortunately). In high school, I was also really close to Beth Allen, a fellow cheerleader. I spent a lot of nights at her house after away games. I really don't have a clue about her, and I'd really, really like to catch up with her. I've tried to add her to my Facebook friends list, but I haven't received a response. After high school, Ronda Nystrom Long became my best friend, and I still consider her to be one of my very best, dearest friends. We don't get together often, but when we do, there's just this closeness there that cannot be denied. I love her more than words can say. And then there's Mrs. Cheeseball. We've been best friends since 1985, when I started dating her brother-in-law. We talk daily. She knows everything about me. I don't know what I would ever do without her. There's also Sue, Mom, and Dwane, but I consider them to be immediate family.

3. Have you ever been reunited with a friend after not seeing them or losing track of them for a long time? If yes tell us about it and if no tell us about a friend you might like to find.

In 1990/1991, I coached the cheerleaders at Georges Valley High School. I became very close friends with Angie and Nikki. They both participated in my wedding, and Nikki was a co-worker of mine for several years. Angie and I often go a whole year without seeing each other, but when we get back together, it's like no time at all has gone by. Just after Christmas, I met up with Nikki at Sam's Club. I hadn't seen her since 1998 or so. Her husband is in the Coast Guard, and they had been stationed in Alaska, and are now stationed in Connecticut. Since she left in the late 1990s, we had spoken only one time, shortly after my Dad passed away. When I saw Nikki at Sam's Club, from about half-way across the store, I literally ran into her arms. It was like a movie scene!!

4. Best and worse. Tell us a nice thing a friend once did for you that you remember and if you have a story of betrayal share that (no names here). You can just pick one of these to share if you wish or both.

When my Dad was sick, Alice would often tell me a funny story to lift my spirits. One of those stories involved a Twix bar. After my Dad died, Alice brought me a Twix bar. It still can make me laugh, or cry, when I think about it. I still keep that Twix bar on my counter, and I see it almost daily.

I don't know that I really have a betrayal story. Certainly, there have been times when friends have drifted away for some reason or another, but I don't know that I can say I was actually betrayed, except by perhaps an ex-boyfriend.

5. Tell us some friend stories. Pick a few memorable friend stories from your past and share. Maybe a special day or event. It could even be something negative that you look back on now and laugh about.

In high school, Becky and I used to hang out together after school, until the start of the football games in the evening. She was a team manager or scorekeeper or something, and I was a cheerleader. We always used to go to Dairy Queen for supper and have the "Single Burger Full Meal Deal". We would eat it as we walked to the game. We would finish somewhere on Pleasant Street, and would need to dump our trash. There was this big bush, and we would hide our trash under that bush. It's an awful thing, I know, but it's a fond memory nonetheless.