The Pixie, Kindergarten and on to First Grade

Time was drawing near and the pressure was on to somehow, someway register and attend Mrs. Grace Kinner's Kindergarten Class beginning in the Fall.  It was simply not going to happen until my brave and sweet Mother negotiated a trade.  Zina Mae decided to offer housecleaning services to Mr. and Mrs. Kinner so I could go to a private pay Kindergarten in our neighborhood.  How thankful I am today for this wonderful experience.  It made me grow up alot and experience many children from all over Ashland that I am still friends with today.  I really loved Helen Hall, my neighbor and Mrs. Kinner's helper.  She always encouraged us to follow the rules with kindness, kept us in line and gave us structure.

The Pixie Haircut
Age 5

Believe it or not, I started a trend with my Pixie haircut.  My first bestfriend in life and Mrs. Kinner's classroom was Amy Raferty and she just had to have a pixie haircut too.  Then came the matching lipstick pink raincoats.  It was nice having a best friend.  I stayed pretty close to her for the entire year and helped her when she needed a little extra help and encouragement on the playground and in the classroom.  It was so sad when we had to part and enter into elementary schools across town from eachother.  I went to Crabbe Elementary and Amy went to Oakview, if I remember correctly, and I just didn't understand why it had to happen this way.  I also missed seeing Romeo-strickened Tim Rice 5 days a week.  I remember him trying to speak French to me like Pepe LePew...every now and then he wanted to kiss my entire right arm.  He was so darn cute with freckles on his cheeks and big brown eyes and quite endearing.

 

Then there was Liz Peebles...she was apart of my Kindergarten class and much to my surprise, appeared at Crabbe Elementary the very morning I showed up for my first day of First Grade.  I was happy about seeing her but she had a rough time with separation anxiety and cried so hard that it reminded me that I was also far, far away from my own security blanket of home.  It kindof freaked me out so bad that I wondered how I would get through the first week.  I was a nervous Nellie until I laid eyes on one of the most beautiful girls in the world.  I saw a heart of gold through her sparkling green eyes.   She had braided hair, the biggest smile and I thought she was a real live American Indian.  I thought to myself, well...she's unique and I like her.  I decided then and there we were going to be best friends and that's all there was to it.  I needed her and she needed me.  Plus, her middle name nearly matched mine...Lynn...yes, Dorothy Lynn Anderson was her name and we are still best friends today.  She and I became official blood sisters in Second Grade which really sealed the deal.

 

 

I remember when Dottie mentioned to me that if we were really to be best friends then we just had to become blood sisters so we went out from the school, into Central Park close to the Tennis Courts, found a rock or something to slice our fingertips a little, then watched the blood come to the surface of our skin.  We then rubbed our fingers together and that's all she wrote...we became official blood sisters for life. 

 

 

Dottie's Mommy always liked me because she knew I loved her daughter.  Although Dottie did have American Indian in her, she also had Spanish, Hungarian, English and African-American.  My sweet friend was a mix of refreshing nationalities that brought something different to the table.  Plus she could dance like noneother.  In fact, she taught me how to do the "four corners" at one of our Ice Cream Socials her Mommy hosted at the school.  Maybe I learned so quickly because we were blood sisters.  I was the only friend allowed to come over to Dottie's home on Saturdays to play.  We stayed outside in the fenced-in dusty yard mostly but just liked being together...didn't have to do much of anything else.  My Dad would drop me off and pick me up.  My Dad knew Dottie's Dad, Bill Anderson, as they had a few things in common.  Navymen they were and they also went to the same Barber located in the Mayo Arcade in heart of town.   

 

 

Dottie and I grew up together in Crabbe Elementary School creating many great childhood memories like being on School Patrol together during 5th and 6th grades.