The Girl with the Raspberry Lips

In 4^th grade I transferred to Our Lady of Angels (OLA) following the death of my grandparents who were OLA alum along with their 13 children. I arrived to Miss Moyer’s classroom clad in my custom made uniform (my great-aunt owns Schoolbelles, the catholic school uniform company) and my long chestnut brown hair professionally done (my mother was a hairdresser and yes, in case you were wondering, I’m not a natural blonde). Nervous about being the new girl, I was delighted to be seated next to Margaret Nagle who quickly informed me that my older Somerville “siblings” were friends with her older siblings and thus, we should be friends, too. We’ve been friends ever since.

At some point during the day, Margaret asked me, “Why do you have lipstick on?” I said, “I didn’t. That was the natural color of my lips.” To this day, Margaret often refers to me as the girl with the “raspberry lips.”

Fast forward to 6^th grade. Enter Heather O’Donnell. Finally I could pass on the moniker of the “new girl.” Heather and her family recently moved to Westpark from Avon. Basically she was a foreign exchange student at OLA as most of us dated back generations. Heather was anxious to become part of our group but Pam Muha stood in her way. We didn’t have room for one more. As good fortune would have it, Pam quickly moved to Texas. So, Heather called me and concocted some lame story about a broken curling iron—a serious crisis for a young girls in the early 8Os on their way to cheerleading try-outs. I was happy to help her out. We’ve been friends ever since. I did come to learn that Heather’s mom was a hairdresser and actually had a beauty salon in their basement!

The three of us (+Barb, Cheryl and Alicia), along with friends we met along the way, Lisa, Jennifer, Chrissie, Carol, Annie, Kathy, Sara, Suzy, and many more ,and WAY too many boys to name (but you know who you are), partied our way through four years of high school and forged friendships to last a lifetime.

And, our friendships went way deep. In part because in Westpark our families are all intertwined. In fact, Heather is now Heather Nagle as she married Margaret’s older brother Donald. For 20+ years, we’ve stood by each other as we married (divorced and re-married), as we tragically buried some of our loved ones at a young age, and as we gave birth to our children. We’re family.

Sadly, we’ve reached the point in life that my many our friend’s parents are dying. This has been particularly hard for me because I’ve had a strained relationship with my parents my whole life. (Okay just my mom as my dad walked out on me before I was born.) But, it sucks for all of us. And, we take comfort in the fact that we’re still here for each other. And of course, the girl with the “raspberry lips” will be right there as we march down that long aisle at OLA once again.