Mood:  chatty

If you know me well, you know that I love purple. The color purple has always been powerful for me and I've loved every shade of purple since I was very young. The moment I moved out of my mother's house, away from the pink nightmare that was my room, I made everything purple and black that I owned.

In the 5^th grade, I was attending Walgrove Ave elementary school and had Ms. Scott as my teacher. I didn't have any super close friendships in elementary school which I chalk up to a few things.

1. I started at the school in 2^nd grade rather than starting in Kindergarten because I attended Montessori School
2. I didn't live in the immediate area of the school. My grandmother did, and my mother used my grandmother's address so I could go there rather than attending Shenandoah Elementary. At the time we lived on Hargis St. off of Robertson right near Hamilton High School, but my mother wanted me to go to Walgrove. So, I didn't get to play with anybody after school in the neighborhood around my elementary, and thus knew none of the children in the neighborhood where I lived.
3. When I finally did make close friendships, my mother moved me to another school. Alison Banks and I were close in 2 and 3^rd grade, but then I moved in the middle of 3^rd grade to Braddock Elementary (which I hated). I was only there for like two or three months and then my mother put me back at Walgrove.
4. I was different because I had special reading classes to address my dyslexia.

Anyway, there were a few people I liked and got along with and shared common interests with in elementary school. One of those who I bonded with was Tyeshaia Donaldson. She loved purple as much as I did. So, we made "The Purple Club". She said something to me about purple when I wore it in fourth grade for our class picture. I wore a purple turtle neck which I just loved to pieces. It was one of the only purple pieces of clothing my mother let me have. I remember it clearly. We were playing foursquare and it was rather warm, and I was wearing the purple turtleneck. I was getting hot and sweaty, and she asked me why I wore the turtleneck on such a hot day. I told her it was the only purple thing I owned and my mother let me pick my own clothing for the first time for a class picture. I immediately had chosen the purple turtleneck without a second thought it was going to be 80 degrees or more. Tyeshia had laughed and said she understood and that she loved purple that much too.

Well, Tyeshia and I started "The Purple Club" and we wore purple every Thursday in 5^th grade. It was really cool to bond with someone, and I am sure we would have become closer if my mother didn't remove me from Walgrove and send me to Westminster Academy in the 6^th grade. My mother wanted me to back to private school and had found Westminster for my 6^th and 7^th grade years. She also didn't want me to go to Mark Twain Jr. High, but to Marina del Rey Jr. High. It made for very broken relationships in my early years jumping around to all those schools.

Montessori - Kindergarten & 1^st grade

Walgrove Elementary - 2^nd & part of 3^rd

Braddock Elementary - part of 3^rd

Walgrove Elementary - 4^th & 5^th grade

Westminster Academy - 6^th & 7^th

Marina del Rey Jr. High - 8^th & 9^th

Venice High - 10^th- 12^th

Due to all these jumps in schools, I met a wide array of people, and really didn't bond with friends until 8^th grade. Kim, Emily, Stacy, Chrissy, Lisa - these were my first close friends I bonded with at Marina. Still, I'll never forget Tyeshia Donaldson and "The Purple Club" we started together back in 5^th grade. She'll always have a special place in my heart.