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Sandee Kaul and I were linked from the first day I met her with a bond stronger than most people ever achieve…alphabetically! I sat behind Sandee in every class we had together from first grade through high school. You just can’t break a bond like that. I remember her on the first day of first grade a the new Dyer Street Elementary School, in Ms. Whitford’s room (She told us to remember her as a White Ford…and I still do!), sharing the wooden blocks.
I envied Sandee; she seemed to have a perfect life. She only had to put up with one younger brother; I had two. Her nice mother worked for a movie studio and Sandee got to go to Hollywood premiers that I knew only important and lucky people got to go to; my mother was gorgeous and always had men flirting with her, which was fun sometimes, but embarrassing others. Sandee had a housekeeper, Mrs. Smith, who kept Sandee’s clothes and house clean; we had to clean our own rooms and the house. Sandee had a pair of black velvet oxfords and the cutest clothes; my mom made my clothes most of my life and I remember putting cardboard milk carton squares over the holes inside my shoes. She had the greatest birthday parties each year with Walt Disney movies and an ice cream cake, generously sending each of us home with a gift; I hardly had a birthday party because everybody was with their own families, so we ended up at the park to watch fireworks after a day in our pool.
Sandee had real baby clothes for her baby doll. I had my own baby doll, but Mom made the clothes for my doll and they usually matched a dress she had made for me. I never appreciated that amazing gift. I thought it was special that Sandee had store bought clothes for both herself and her baby doll.
Now that I think of it, we both had great lives! Who knew?
We had fun times together. We’d do our homework at Sandee’s dining room table, which always had a fresh bowl of gardinias on it. There was always a treat for us in the refrigerator. Once we were drinking “Hi-C Hula Hyball” while we were telling jokes and we were laughing so hard, Sandee had red Hula Hyball dripping out of her nose. We’d sit at the table and try to do our homework, but usually ended up sharing secrets about boys. Silly as we were, I remember confiding to her my deepest crush on Tom Manley and she whispered her heartfelt feelings for Dan McCaslin, but we only did it as we were hanging upside down from our chairs and whispered to each other across the bottom-side of the table. We just couldn’t get up the courage to tell each other face-to-face.
We tried to catch birds in her backyard with a string tied to a stick, propping up a box. We ran the string behind the garage and waited for the birds to snatch the bread so carefully placed under the box. But the birds were smarter than we gals and never fell for our trap. Maybe they heard all the giggling behind the garage, but we loved the suspense anyway.
We’d walk home from Olive Vista Jr. High as far as we could together. She’d walk me halfway home when I studied at her house. One day my cousin Nanette, sister Miki and I were at Sandee’s house and she decided to walk us the usual halfway, which was at Dyer Street School. When we reached the school, we noticed a sleek black car creeping slowly behind us.
We tried to stay calm, but our over-imaginative little brains couldn’t handle the fear, and the long, long block of nothing but chain-linked fencing ahead of us caused us to panic. We didn’t dare split up and run, so we kept walking as fast as we could until we looked back and saw a man get out of the car. Then we ran as fast as we could, thinking only of getting to a safe haven. We got to the corner and ran into the first yard we could see. Sandee, Nanette and I ran up to the door, but as we looked back for Miki, we saw she had collapsed to her knees on the lawn and covered her head like we were taught to do in a drop drill at school.
We were so stunned, we all just began to laugh and couldn’t stop, scaring the guys in the car away. Luckily for us, they were easily scared because no one ever answered the door at the house we’d so depended on for safety.
After we collected our wits - and Miki - we hid in bushes and behind trees as we wound our way slowly toward home. Each time we heard a car, we panicked and hid until we were at last in our own yard. Sandee was still with us, so we called her mom and told her we’d bring her right home. It was a while before we visited Sandee again!
Sandee wasn’t involved in this one, but as long as we’re talking about black cars, I’ll tell you of another little episode. One night when Carol Egan, Nanette and I were at an Olive Vista Jr. High School Silhouettes dance we were again chased. There was a rule that we had to be picked up by a parent after the dance, and it was Nanette's mother's turn this time. She was late and we were getting worried – our membership cards would be taken away if we weren’t picked up by 15 minutes after the dance.
We began to pace the sidewalk and little by little found ourselves halfway down the long block. Then we saw the black car. This time we could see it was a carload of teenage boys, probably drunk, looking for fun. We high-tailed it back towards school as one kid jumped out of the car and gave us chase. This time it was dark and we were scared to death! We ran, screaming, back to the school and around the corner into the gate just as this kid grabbed my coat. Lucky for us, right inside the gate was our huge, handsome, hunk of salvation, Coach Cain! The guy took off back to the car and we all collapsed and began to shake in earnest. We’d never been so grateful to be caught “sneaking” back into school – even if we did lose our membership cards for two weeks.
When my daughter Kelly was three I took her to visit Sandee. She had been teaching school for a couple of years and looked just as I knew her. In 2001 Sandee came to visit me with her two beautiful teenage daughters and wonderful husband (who died in 2004 of cancer).
Because we were similar-looking, Sandee and I went through school as “twins” – getting each other into a little trouble but mostly just confusing our teachers through no fault of our own. I think it was all those freckles!
Our bond was stronger than either of us could imagine. One time, Cub Scout Den Leader Mom took Nanette and I to the Scout Jamboree at the Los Angeles Fair Grounds; a gigantic area filled with scouting booths from all over the country. Nan and I were acting “Den Chiefs” because there were no boys the right age that would help Mom out, and since we were teenagers and interested in “Scouting Boys,” we were given the task that summer. As we entered the Fair Grounds we were immediately approached by several Boy Scouts to act as “tour guides.” After a while Nanette and I paired up with two adorable boys about our age, who showed us a nice time.
We had fun seeing all there was to see and then these guys told us they were supposed to participate in some Indian dancing. We sat in the bleachers to watch them perform their dances and when it was time for the audience to learn a little “Indian Two-step” our guys rushed into the crowd and grabbed our hands to step into the ring with them. When Nanettte and I joined others in the ring, right next to us was Sandee, who we hadn’t see all evening, and her partner was my partner’s TWIN!
I consider myself blessed to have had a wonderful friend with high morals and deep loyalties and cherish our communication by email and far too few visits through the years. She’s happily married again and enjoying life!
I envied Sandee; she seemed to have a perfect life. She only had to put up with one younger brother; I had two. Her nice mother worked for a movie studio and Sandee got to go to Hollywood premiers that I knew only important and lucky people got to go to; my mother was gorgeous and always had men flirting with her, which was fun sometimes, but embarrassing others. Sandee had a housekeeper, Mrs. Smith, who kept Sandee’s clothes and house clean; we had to clean our own rooms and the house. Sandee had a pair of black velvet oxfords and the cutest clothes; my mom made my clothes most of my life and I remember putting cardboard milk carton squares over the holes inside my shoes. She had the greatest birthday parties each year with Walt Disney movies and an ice cream cake, generously sending each of us home with a gift; I hardly had a birthday party because everybody was with their own families, so we ended up at the park to watch fireworks after a day in our pool.
Sandee had real baby clothes for her baby doll. I had my own baby doll, but Mom made the clothes for my doll and they usually matched a dress she had made for me. I never appreciated that amazing gift. I thought it was special that Sandee had store bought clothes for both herself and her baby doll.
Now that I think of it, we both had great lives! Who knew?
We had fun times together. We’d do our homework at Sandee’s dining room table, which always had a fresh bowl of gardinias on it. There was always a treat for us in the refrigerator. Once we were drinking “Hi-C Hula Hyball” while we were telling jokes and we were laughing so hard, Sandee had red Hula Hyball dripping out of her nose. We’d sit at the table and try to do our homework, but usually ended up sharing secrets about boys. Silly as we were, I remember confiding to her my deepest crush on Tom Manley and she whispered her heartfelt feelings for Dan McCaslin, but we only did it as we were hanging upside down from our chairs and whispered to each other across the bottom-side of the table. We just couldn’t get up the courage to tell each other face-to-face.
We tried to catch birds in her backyard with a string tied to a stick, propping up a box. We ran the string behind the garage and waited for the birds to snatch the bread so carefully placed under the box. But the birds were smarter than we gals and never fell for our trap. Maybe they heard all the giggling behind the garage, but we loved the suspense anyway.
We’d walk home from Olive Vista Jr. High as far as we could together. She’d walk me halfway home when I studied at her house. One day my cousin Nanette, sister Miki and I were at Sandee’s house and she decided to walk us the usual halfway, which was at Dyer Street School. When we reached the school, we noticed a sleek black car creeping slowly behind us.
We tried to stay calm, but our over-imaginative little brains couldn’t handle the fear, and the long, long block of nothing but chain-linked fencing ahead of us caused us to panic. We didn’t dare split up and run, so we kept walking as fast as we could until we looked back and saw a man get out of the car. Then we ran as fast as we could, thinking only of getting to a safe haven. We got to the corner and ran into the first yard we could see. Sandee, Nanette and I ran up to the door, but as we looked back for Miki, we saw she had collapsed to her knees on the lawn and covered her head like we were taught to do in a drop drill at school.
We were so stunned, we all just began to laugh and couldn’t stop, scaring the guys in the car away. Luckily for us, they were easily scared because no one ever answered the door at the house we’d so depended on for safety.
After we collected our wits - and Miki - we hid in bushes and behind trees as we wound our way slowly toward home. Each time we heard a car, we panicked and hid until we were at last in our own yard. Sandee was still with us, so we called her mom and told her we’d bring her right home. It was a while before we visited Sandee again!
Sandee wasn’t involved in this one, but as long as we’re talking about black cars, I’ll tell you of another little episode. One night when Carol Egan, Nanette and I were at an Olive Vista Jr. High School Silhouettes dance we were again chased. There was a rule that we had to be picked up by a parent after the dance, and it was Nanette's mother's turn this time. She was late and we were getting worried – our membership cards would be taken away if we weren’t picked up by 15 minutes after the dance.
We began to pace the sidewalk and little by little found ourselves halfway down the long block. Then we saw the black car. This time we could see it was a carload of teenage boys, probably drunk, looking for fun. We high-tailed it back towards school as one kid jumped out of the car and gave us chase. This time it was dark and we were scared to death! We ran, screaming, back to the school and around the corner into the gate just as this kid grabbed my coat. Lucky for us, right inside the gate was our huge, handsome, hunk of salvation, Coach Cain! The guy took off back to the car and we all collapsed and began to shake in earnest. We’d never been so grateful to be caught “sneaking” back into school – even if we did lose our membership cards for two weeks.
When my daughter Kelly was three I took her to visit Sandee. She had been teaching school for a couple of years and looked just as I knew her. In 2001 Sandee came to visit me with her two beautiful teenage daughters and wonderful husband (who died in 2004 of cancer).
Because we were similar-looking, Sandee and I went through school as “twins” – getting each other into a little trouble but mostly just confusing our teachers through no fault of our own. I think it was all those freckles!
Our bond was stronger than either of us could imagine. One time, Cub Scout Den Leader Mom took Nanette and I to the Scout Jamboree at the Los Angeles Fair Grounds; a gigantic area filled with scouting booths from all over the country. Nan and I were acting “Den Chiefs” because there were no boys the right age that would help Mom out, and since we were teenagers and interested in “Scouting Boys,” we were given the task that summer. As we entered the Fair Grounds we were immediately approached by several Boy Scouts to act as “tour guides.” After a while Nanette and I paired up with two adorable boys about our age, who showed us a nice time.
We had fun seeing all there was to see and then these guys told us they were supposed to participate in some Indian dancing. We sat in the bleachers to watch them perform their dances and when it was time for the audience to learn a little “Indian Two-step” our guys rushed into the crowd and grabbed our hands to step into the ring with them. When Nanettte and I joined others in the ring, right next to us was Sandee, who we hadn’t see all evening, and her partner was my partner’s TWIN!
I consider myself blessed to have had a wonderful friend with high morals and deep loyalties and cherish our communication by email and far too few visits through the years. She’s happily married again and enjoying life!
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