Owl Vision: “Stronger than the years

by Lyndsay Clark –

I live in Springwater now but I grew up on Air Force bases all over the globe. My family was stationed at Westover AFB in Massachusetts from 1966 to 1970.  I was 5 when we moved there and 9 when we left for Wiesbaden,Germany.  My best friend at Westover was Ella Becton.  We walked to and from school everyday and played together daily. On Saturdays we would walk to the base theatre and for 25 cents we would watch the matinee. Usually some Western or a Disney movie.  It was a carefree time in our lives, we were little girls together at a magical time to be alive.  We marveled at the moon landing, made up poems and songs, played outside and we laughed all the time. There are many advantages to growing up as a “military brat” such as getting to travel and go to amazing places and also having friends from diverse backgrounds.  The down side is having to move; every 4 years.

Moving is hard for a child.  It was for me. My mother did a great job of getting us excited about moving to a foreign country but I missed Ella so profoundly.  The passage of time has a way of easing the pain, you just think about the sad thing less and less until the new routines of life sweep you along and you are happy again.

I never forgot my friend, I named my cat Ella, told all the funny stories of the things we did to my husband and then my children.

Last year I did some sleuthing (call me Nancy Drew!) And I tracked Ella down! No thanks to Facebook; neither of us use the service. I called her and left a message. I was worried she wouldn’t want to be bothered by a friend from so long ago, but she called me back! We had a nice talk. She remembered that my Mom took us to see the Boston Pops and I remembered that her mother used to make soul food on Sunday’s

And I would be invited to dinner.

We exchanged emails and recently I suggested we get together for lunch.  So, my husband and I are going to Salisbury, Massachusetts this weekend to have lunch with Ella and her boyfriend Joe!  So much time has passed since we played together, 47 years. I am a little nervous. I made a list of things to talk about.  I will continue this story when I return from this epic trip.

Musical interlude.

Well, I am back from our trip to New England and it’s hard to describe how I feel. We drove across the state of Massachusetts to Salisbury and met Ella and Joe at the Sea Glass Inn. When I saw Ella walk into the restaurant I was amazed that I couldn’t recognize her from my memory of her.  I had brought a photo of us to give her.  An old Polaroid shot of us that I enlarged and framed. She was happy to have a copy of it.  We hugged and laughed.  Coby and Joe hit it off as they have a lot in common.  I went down the list of memories to talk about.  Some things she remembered, some she didn’t.  She didn’t remember the NCO club burning down but she did remember the little French song when I started singing it!  She joined in right away, she was the one who taught it to me so many years ago.  It was very nice to see her again and know that she is alive and well and happy in this world.

When you move around a lot as I did, you have to piece together your childhood.  Time passed like it always does and I gave a little piece of Ella’s childhood to her with the photo and recalling stories.  The memories I have from my childhood are strong and define who I am now.  Time passes but memories are stronger than the years.   Ella emailed me thanking me for reaching out. She said she cherished the photo and our friendship and that made me feel glad that I found her.