Because He Gave: The Lindsay Files- Part 7

If I thought 4th grade brought good and bad experiences I never would have expected what 5th grade would bring.

A new school.

More death.

And, the realization that sometimes being cool trumps friendship.

My 5th grade teacher was Mrs. Auer. I really liked her. She was tall, thin, elegant and had really good handwriting. She was also a neighbor of my moms best friend. When we'd visit my moms friend I'd pop down the street and say hello to my teacher. I thought that was pretty cool.

We were the first 5th grade class at Morningside Elementary.

Once again I was in the same class as my good friends Tiffany, Amy, Natalie and Katie. I was still in LEAP and loving it. I ran to be President of our student council and made Vice President (the principles daughter won for President. I'm sure it had nothing to do with her last name or anything. Just sayin'.... *smile*). My mom started working from home that year so I got to spend alot more time with her.

Im in the white shirt on the left. The girl leaning over is my friend Natalie.

We also started going to a new church. A church that would change the course of my life. {more on that later}

My brother Corey joined the Navy and was shipped off to Chicago. Before he left he bought me a pair of K-Swiss. Those shoes meant the world to me!

That was the year that I began to realize that sometimes being cool means choosing not to do what was right or good. Some of my close friends (not the ones mentioned above) decided I wasn't cool enough to be good friends with anymore because well, I was a good girl. It wasn't too bad and I didn't really suffer any bullying because fortunately being good girl was still a good thing in the 5th grade.

In 4th grade I had been Mrs. Claus {as in Santas wife}, a lead part, in our school play. In 5th grade my friend Amy {she was the one with the matching outfit in 4th grade} and I tried out to be extras in a production of The Music Man that our local high school was putting on. We both made the cut and we got to perform in the high school productions as 5th graders. That was a great experience!

My oldest brother Shawn {well, his first name is Mark but since he's a junior the family calls him Shawn} had moved back home and gotten a dog that year. He picked this irresistible bouncing black lab pup and named her Hannah. The personality that at first was irresistible turned into a the dog from...well you know. She chewed everything. Ruined lots of my brothers shoes and books. He was done with her and wanted her gone. By this time though I had fallen in love with her. So, I convinced my mom she couldn't go anywhere. And she didnt. Hannah did have a problem with getting out the yard though. She would jump our fence and get picked up by animal control. At one point Hannah was found by a sweet woman. She fell in love with Hannah but soon realized we were her owners. My mom had told the lady she could keep Hannah because Hannah caused so much trouble getting out constantly. And, she was an extra expense my mom didn't need. The lady asked my mom if we wanted Hannah and we did, she just cost a little too much to keep. So, instead of keeping Hannah the lady arrived at our door one day with a few HUGE bags of dog food and a specially made dog house just for Hannah. What a sweet woman she was!

That year wasn't all good though. My dad, step mom and step sister had moved back to Dallas. My step moms cancer had been in remission but in August they found out it had returned. My step sister was only 4 months older than me but a year older in school. My step mom faught the returning cancer until December when she lost her battle and died on December 5th. My 11th birthday. Since she had passed away in her sleep I remember wishing they could change the date so that the date of her death was not my 11th birthday. My relationship was never the same with my dad from that point on. It took until I was 16 for him to even acknowledge my birthday again. But, really, that didn't even matter. I honestly didn't care too much. I believe the Lord allowed my heart to not grow bitter and even at such a young age to understand the hurt of others and to heave forgiveness undeservingly, just like our Savior has done for us. I had just wished my step sister didn't have to lose her mom and that my dad didn't have to lose his wife. My step sister ended up moving in with her real dad and her step mom and we pretty much lost touch for the most part. {Not anymore thanks to Facebook though. :)}

I look back on my years through elementary and can really appreciate all the things I experienced. The good and the bad. I was so outgoing and involved in everything at school. I had lots of close friends and a mom who put an Eternal focus on life.

We left 5th grade being the big kids on campus and entered the world of 6th grade. A grade full of experiences that changed my life. We entered the world of middle school.....