Dear Amy at 6,
Moving to us is almost second nature, but be prepared for another. In fact, you may have already moved again by the time you hit six – that’s at least four or five moves now. One thing that stays constant is the library. Regardless of where we move, now or later, Mom always finds the library and makes sure that we find our way there. Before we used to walk to it, and in Delta this will be the same.
Hellings is an interesting name for a school, and it will be a bit weird at first since this is technically only your second school. You haven’t had to switch before and it feels weird being the “new kid.” You’ll be labelled that for a while… at various schools. I can tell you right now that some of these people will remain your friends for many years. We will meet Annie on day one, and listen to Dr. Harper read about moon face; kind of creepy story when we read it later.
You will form the “Bird Club” and it honestly has nothing to do with birds aside from our nicknames being birds. I think we were an owl, but I could be wrong. Speaking of those, we will attend Sparks in a church and our enrollment involves a slide. Eventually we will move onto brownies, but Sabrina and Maria and Courtney will continue with us. One of my favorite parts about Hellings is that we feel included by everyone. That will go away when we move again, but hold onto the feeling for as long as you can. Everyone needs a bit of light to keep close.
Dad takes us on our first trip to Disneyland this year and we leave around St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t remember the exact date, but I remember feeling the need to wear green! During our flight, Grandpa McElwee passes away from multiple heart attacks. We don’t find out right away because Dad doesn’t want our trip to be effected, but the hold the funeral until we are back in town. From the airport we get on a big Disney bus with Mickey and Minnie on it, but when we get to the hotel Dad’s suitcase is missing. Turns out a lady with the same suitcase got off before us and took his! Our hotel has a big fountain in the lobby and is called a Hilton; it’s pretty fancy to us at the time, but the name will mean more to us later on in life. Rides that scare us: Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean. Things that we love: Tea Cups and Fantasmic. Dad get’s us a little parasol in New Orleans Square and it says “Amy” on it. The purple fades a bit over time, but we still have it… and a few others now.
-A
A. N. Stetzl 