Another chapter.

Before the whole "dead lion" incident happened, Megan went into preschool. No, I was not left alone. I was around two years old when she started her "schooling." And I thought it would be horrible with both of my sisters at school. But then, there was Jerry. My mom had been babysitting him for her friend for sometime now, but since he was so young, he didn't make that good of a play mate. He was a year younger than me but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that I had someone to occupy my time while my only two friends were at school.

We did everything together. We watched TV, played with his cool new Hot Wheels cars, "read" my new books, swam in my pool, and played with my two cats, Mittens and Pearl. Jerry was even the one that brought over Simba's Pride (the 2nd Lion King movie) over to our house and caused a variety to my lion play with my sisters. He was also the one that brought me into my Power Rangers obsession and we soon added "play Power Rangers" to our list of things to do. I was always the pink one, of course. We became inseparable. My least favorite time of the day was when his mom came to pick him up. I would often find us hiding in my bedroom closet hoping that he wouldn't have to go home if they couldn't find us. He was my best friend and and I was his.

I remember the first time I went to his house. It was right after he had gotten his tonsils removed. He gave me the grand tour of his house, which was rather big in comparison to mine. We sat down in his living room and played with is new castle set. I was the people inside the castle and he was the people outside of it, trying to knock it down. His mom came in and called us to come to lunch. Our lunch consisted of jello and ice cream because everything else hurt too bad for him to swallow. I was overjoyed. Jello and ice cream for lunch! I remember how he taught me "the funner way to eat jello," which. basically, was sucking it straight through the small gap in your front teeth. He was right. It was a lot funner than the ordinary way.

Looking back on our time spent together, it was a wonder that we could communicate with each other. Though his was worse than mine, we both had speech problems. I couldn't pronounce half of my consonants and he could barely talk at all. Nobody else could understand him. I became his little translator. I remember getting so frustrated with everyone because they could understand what he was saying. I now find it a miracle that I could.

Too soon, we had to be separated. I was supposed to go to preschool. On the way there, I kicked and screamed and told my mom that I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with her at home like always. I wanted to stay with my best friend Jerry. In the end, my mom still had to go to work, but I didn't go to preschool that day or any day that year, for that matter. I was sent to a family friend's house to be babysat with Megan and Michelle. Yes, they still went to school, but they went there each day before school started so Michelle could hang out with her friend Dana and Megan could play with her friend Sara.

Before school hours, I would have to stick around the middle daughter, Gina. The age difference was unfortunate. Michelle and Dana were both the oldest children and were the same age. Then came Gina, named after her mother because the were born on the same day, who didn't share an age with anyone in the family. And finally came Sara who was the youngest, but Megan's age. So when I was four, I was being forced to play with an eight year old.

After they all left on their various buses, though, I got to spend time with two other girls Gina (the mom) babysat and a little baby boy. One of the girls, Rhiannon, was my age, the other, Kelsey, was a couple years younger and still potty training, and the boy, Max, was still just an infant. Rhiannon, Kelsey, and I would play school down in the basement and watch Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues together upstairs. Without Jerry, the two soon became my two best friends.

Then, one day Rhiannon wasn't there. When I asked Gina where she was, she told me that she had moved to Manhattan, which was too far of a drive for the parents to bring her each day. I was never to see her again. So I was left with Kelsey and Max. It was fun helping potty train Kelsey. I remember the day when all of the stickers on her "potty chart" were filled and she was going to the bathroom on her own. She was so happy. It was also fun watching Max go from a tiny little baby to a tiny little toddler walking around the house. But I still feel sad when I think of my good friend Rhiannon.