Nicole writes about the summer she first met Ronee' Reaux at arthritis camp 2 1/2 years ago.
I have been best friends with my friend, Ronee', for nearly three years now. It will be three years in July.
I first met Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux at Camp SteppingStone, which is a camp for kids with arthritis. (I've been going there since I was seven. I had just turned seven two months prior to camp.) I met her on the second day at camp, during lunch time. It was my second summer there, but it was her first, and she looked scared and out of place.
I went up to her, and I was shocked at how little she was. She was only six then (she wouldn't be seven until December, she said), but she was a tiny six-and-a-half. She looked more like a four-year-old than a nearly seven-year-old girl. She had a thin little body, big, black eyes, and a headful of the longest, thickest, blackest hair I had ever seen on a person. Her hair was thick and blue-black, and it fell to below her rearend in a mass of ringlets and curls. She had a round face with fat cheeks, and she looked younger than six. She was on a pair of bright pink crutches, and she wore braces on both her legs.
I said "Hi" to her, and I told her my name was Nicole. She told me her name was Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, and she had been born in Louisiana, which explained her French-accented voice and her last name. She said she'd moved to Tennessee when she was a baby, and she had a big family. She also told me she was adopted.
I sat with Ronee', and we talked and talked into the night. We became fast friends, and it seemed destined that we were brought together at camp. I guess we were MEANT to be friends because we have been the best of friends ever since. We can now tell each other just about ANYTHING, and we can always try to cheer the other up if we are sad or in pain. We also can joke around and act stupid, just like any other kid.
Ronee' is as different as is night and day from me. We are total opposites; yet we are very close. She is tiny, dark, and rather shy at first until she gets to know someone, and she can sing like a canary while I am fair, (sorta') short, and fat, talkative (I can talk one's ear off if they are not careful!), and can't sing a lick. Fact is, I am tone deaf! I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, that's how badly I sing!
But Ronee' is a very sweet kid, and she loves camp, just as I do, and she loves life itself. She has been through a lot with her health, but she has become a better and stronger person because of her courage. She doesn't let things get to her (but I have seen her when she is upset or scared, like that time I first met her at camp). I am glad Ronee' and I are friends; in fact, I wouldn't have it any way! And besides, it's gotten to the point to where I can't imagine life without her!
i agree with mark...you shine! and so do your characters...you can just imagine them in your mind, reading about them! well done, karen! (((HUGS))) and love, karla. :)
you bring yourself across very well in your writings. every time i read one of your works, your personality just shines through. the stories that you tell are also quite endearing. wonderful work, and thank you, for sharing!
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