William

The picture above is from my first grade class. I am

the little girl in the red turtleneck, and William de Herrera,

one of my best friends then, is on my left.

 I don't know if it still is, but back in my day, it was not "normal" for boys and girls to be friends and play at recess together. Yet, one of my best friends was William de Herrera. William, Michael, Vivian, and I often played together at recess, and even had nicknames for each other: Big Mouth, Blabber Mouth, Motor Mouth, and Jabberjaw. The names were always interchangeable; it just depended on who called it first.

There were shrubs against the back wall of Yucca Elementary where Vivian and I would take refuge behind one, and William and Michael would shield themselves behind another. Each one of us was either Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, but would fight against each other in pairs of boys vs. girls. For example, Army/Air Force vs. Navy/Marine Corps. We would use the branches of the shrubs as machine guns and make the sound effects of blasting guns and bombs. It never failed, vanity would prevail in the midst of war, and either Vivian or I would scream out, "Hold your fire! I need lipstick!", at which time Vivian and I took time to primp for battle.

William and I attended church at Immaculate Conception and were enrolled in the same First Holy Communion class. We got ticket stubs as points for attendance or some kind of reward, and they were redeemable at the end of the year, when the annual bazaar was held. I remember William and I walking around and looking at the tables to see what we could "buy" with our tickets. William was so sweet, he gave me some of his so I would have enough for a purchase.

I remember his voice, and how sweet he was. If I would have had a brother, William would have been him. We never fought, and I remember him looking out for me. I have always wondered whatever happened to him, and always thought to seek him out to see what we each remember about those days or one another. I am fairly certain William remembered me, and I'm sure fondly.

I have let the tears flow today, and probably will for a couple of days. On the bright side, when it's my turn to go, and I get to the other side, there are some wonderful people that will be there waiting for me. I expect one bad ass party!

William de Herrera

July 27, 1970 to November 2, 2006