Gwen. E. Lippert

didn’t know how to respond to that. She had never been anybody’s best friend before. She wanted to say thank you but was afraid to speak. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would cry. Claire seemed to sense that and went back to her homework. So did Gwen.

      It wasn’t long after that when they heard a knock at the door. Gwen’s heart sank a bit; she knew it was time to go home.

      Claire ran to open the door, anxious to meet Gwen’s mother. Swinging open the door, she said, “Hi! I’m Claire. Come in.”

      Dr. Marsh entered the house. “Hi, Claire, I’m Dr. Marsh.”

      Gwen spoke up immediately, “You can call her Miss Madeline.” She wanted Claire to be as comfortable with her parents as she was with Miss Ann.

      Madeline looked sharply at her daughter but didn’t contradict her.

      Miss Ann came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Hi, Madeline, so nice to meet you,” she said, reaching out her hand.

      Shaking hands, Madeline replied, “Very nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for having Gwen to dinner.”

      “You’re very welcome. She is delightful!”

      Madeline smiled at her daughter, proud to hear that she had been a good dinner guest. “We would like to have Claire for dinner on Tuesday, if that’s okay with you. We live only two streets over. They can come to our house after school, and then I’d be happy to run her home for you after dinner.”

      “Thank you. I’m sure Claire would love that.” The girls smiled at each other. Neither failed to notice that they hadn’t been consulted, but that was okay. “I can pick her up though. No reason for you to have to run out.”

      “That’s fine. If you change your mind, just call. It’s no problem.” Arrangements for Tuesday being made, Madeline motioned for her daughter to grab her things. “Thank Mrs.…Miss Ann for dinner, dear.”

      “Thank you for dinner, Miss Ann. It was great!” Madeline was a bit surprised when Ann gave Gwen a big hug.

      “Thank you for joining us! You are welcome anytime.”

      The girls said their goodbyes, and Gwen left with her mom.

      And so it began that each day after school, the two girls went to one house or the other. Usually, it was Claire’s, but maybe once a week, it was Gwen’s. Gwen’s parents did pretty well too. They engaged Claire over dinner, enjoyed learning mah-jongg, and taught the girls how to play bridge. There were no hugs though; Dr. and Dr. Marsh, or Miss Madeline and Mr. Carl as they allowed for Claire only, were just not the hugging type.

      The weekends were the same. The days were spent together, and they even spent a few hours each Saturday at the senior center, playing mah-jongg with “the ladies.” To Gwen’s surprise, Claire was right, it was fun! And once the ladies learned that the girls could play bridge, they would alternate games. Also, as there were three ladies and two girls, Gwen and Claire took turns each hand. It worked out well.

      The girls were inseparable all through seventh and eighth grades.