It all started with Jimmy’s 10th birthday party. Jimmy’s mom decided to have it at Shakey’s Pizza. That was the perfect place to have a birthday party. Jimmy was excited to have it there. His birthday was on August 27th, just about a week before school started.
Birthdays were a big deal with Jimmy, as it was with most kids. He loved playing the games, getting presents, and especially eating birthday cake with ice cream. He was real happy about going to Shakey’s Pizza. Pizza! He had never had pizza before, so he was excited to see what it would taste like. He had invited a bunch of his friends. There was his best friend, Tony, and Randy, Susan, Sherita, Preston, Meemee, Bobby, Lisa, and Derrick. Everyone lived within a block, or two of him. They ended up having a great time, just as he knew they would.
The next year for Jimmy’s 11th birthday party, they had it at McDonald’s. That was a lot of fun too. Jimmy had two Quarter Pounders with cheese. Mmmmmmmgood!!!
The next year, for Jimmy’s 12th birthday party, they had it at Uncle John’s Pancake House. Jimmy had a big stack of pancakes with blueberry syrup. Every year he invited the same kids to his party. These were the friends that he hung out with the most. It got to be sort of a tradition with them.
As he, and the rest of the kids started getting a little older, they would decide themselves where they wanted to go, and after the restaurant, they would go back to Jimmy’s house where his mom would have the ice cream and cake waiting for them.
Over the next few years, this is how they celebrated Jimmy’s birthdays. They would meet at his house, and decide which restaurant to go to, and then come back to the house where Jimmy’s mom had ice cream, and cake waiting for them.
Now Jimmy was turning 18, and as usual, the crew was at Jimmy’s house, as they decided where they wanted to go. This year though, it was a little different. One thing was that they had all just graduated from high school. Well, everyone but Meeme. She had one more year to go. After this, everyone would probably be going their separate ways. Jimmy was going off to college. So were Preston, Lisa and Derrick. Tony was going to school, but he was staying in town. Lisa had a job, and she was thinking about maybe going to school part-time. Derrick wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He was working and thought about school, but he had barely made it out of high school, and couldn’t really see spending more time in school. Bobby would be moving to Houston in a few weeks to work for his uncle’s construction company.
The other thing was tragic, and very sad. It was Sherita. Sherita was always so full of life, and always had such a positive outlook on things. Everyone just loved her.
This summer she had been a counselor at a church camp. The camp’s week long session was over, and the kids were getting on the busses to go back home. One kid was standing behind one of the busses, which suddenly started to back up. Sherita was able to push the child out of the way, but….
Jimmy and the rest of the group realized that this would probably be for the last time. Next year, everyone would probably be off doing their own thing, with school and work. Jimmy was hoping to get some type of internship, if he could, so he might not even be coming back home next summer.
They had decided on the restaurant, Embers, and then came back for cake and ice cream. After that, they all just hung out on the porch. They had been friends almost all of their lives. Realizing how much everything would be changing, nobody really wanted this moment to end. Lisa had a bottle of soda, and before she took a drink, she held it up in the air. “This is for Sherita,” she said, as she poured a little bit of it on the ground. “Rest in heaven, my friend.”