Birthday Shout-Outs


song playin' in my head: "You're Still You" by Josh Groban


Happy 30th Birthday, Mommy Hernandez!!! Mommy Hernandez and I go back, WAY back, to 1st grade. Although we were in same class, it wasn't until 3rd grade that we actualy became friends. I still remember the mornings in the schoolyard waiting for the bell to ring. I always knew when MH got there because the sound of her Dad's orange Volkswagon Bug announced her arrival. It was so loud we could practically hear her from around the corner! There she'd be, a lil' shy Pinay chick with her forever bowl haircut and her long ass skirt that went past her knees. Not to be mistaken for the typical timid girl, once you got her talking, that was it! We could talk about anything and everything...and of course, at the time, it was usually about Ricky Shroeder and the latest episode of Silver Spoons. Later, it was all about River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton from "Stand By Me." Of course, there was WHAM!, Duran Duran, and Culture Club to discuss as well! Her fave in DD was lead singer Simon Le Bon and mine was John Taylor. I was so in love with those cheek bones and poofy hair! lol! She'd always joke that when I'd marry my John Taylor, my initials would be AT&T...as in the phone company! If you're not laughing or even smirking just a bit, I don't give a damn. 'Tis one of those moments that'll always be there whenever I think of MH.

The rest of our grade school days were so memorable that in fact, I dub those years as the "good ole' days." Our lil' group of friends were so tight, although while we went doorbell ditchin' afterschool, taking walks in the park, and heading to Mission for Mickey D's, MH could never join us. Her Dad picked her up promptly at 2:45pm and she rarely had time to hang out. It's all good though 'cuz I don't think I would've wanted that responsibility of converting miss-goody-two-shoes into the lil' rugrats that we were back then. Aw, we weren't bad kids...didn't do drugs, weren't in any gangs, didn't do sh*t like that. We just liked to have fun and hang out. She was allowed to go to my house sometimes. Being the latchkey kid that I was, we'd come home to an empty house and goodness gracious, how many people allow this anymore?! All we'd ever do is cook some Ramen, watch Scooby Doo, and drink our soup through straws. The times that I went to her house were fun, an adventure. There were no buslines that went directly to her house...yah, yah, MUNI...my means of transporatation at the time. No buses, no one to drive me. If I wanted to visit MH, I had to bike it. No big deal, right? NOT! 'Tisn't a big deal to bike anywhere...by myself, mind you...but 'twas a big deal goin' up South Hill Blvd- ain't nothing but hill after hill after hill, well, you get the point. She just happened to live near the top where once you got there, you're awarded one of the most scenic views of the San Francisco downtown skyline you can get from Daly City. I'd never bike it all the way. I couldn't. Not possible. Lance Armstrong, I'm not. The trek back down was smooth sailing...although it surprises me even now that I never got hit by oncoming traffic at the speeds I was making down that hill. The cool thing was that I could actually pinpoint MH's house from my street and vice versa on her end. In fact, when I'd speed off on my bike, she could actually watch the dot of me journey home through her binoculars.

To see our friendship grow through the years has been amazing. The years are marked with memories full of laughter, tears, boyfriends, breakups, phone calls, letters, reunions, graduations, 1st jobs, engagements, marriage, and now kids. My heart broke in two last year when I found out that she had cancer. She was too young. She just gave birth to baby Noah and her mom was just in the hospital. Life seemed so unfair to be throwing all these obstacles in her way. When she told me, I was speechless. I wanted to cry and scream all at the same time. My childhood friend whom I've known for almost 25 years...it was too unreal. Thankfully, after chemotherapy sessions and lots of prayers, her cancer went into remission. She has been cancer free since then.

Mommy Hernandez and I have lots of "Remember When's" and I'm so thankful that she's in better health so that we could continue our reminiscing. To one of my oldest and dearest friends, Happy 30th Birthday!!!

Purple and turquiose....my pole forever...much love girl