I was a little skeptical about requesting Missy Fodor as a friend on Facebook when I first saw her on there. Afterall, she may have remembered what an upstart and troublemaker I had been at times throughout my formative years at Fairbrook Elementary, Ankeney Junior High, and Beavercreek High School and decided to deny me! We had attended every school year together with the exception of our senior year at BHS – twelve years in all. So over the years we had crossed paths many times.
Soon however I realized that Missy was the same sweet girl she had always been, so my fears of having my friend request denied were unfounded. She quickly exhibited the same great sense of humor, warmth, and, as I would learn when we finally got to meet up on Sunday, April 26, 2009, the same great infectious laugh that I always aspired to trigger back in the day. If memory serves me correct, I don’t think we had seen each other since about 1989.
As sweet as she was, the other thing that I remember about Missy through the years was that she was quite spunky. Diminutive stature not withstanding, she didn’t take any crap from anybody and I’m certain that I was occassionaly the target of her wrath. But I always liked Missy and didn’t care for it one bit if she was ticked at me. I’d employ my sense of humor to try and bring that laugh back. While I don’t recall any specific instance of this happening, I know it to be true back when we shared our first class together – in Mrs. Deets’ room in second grade.
I told you we went way back. This is Missy’s photo from our first class together in second grade…1979!
So over the past year, it has been a great pleasure to renew my friendship with Missy, often exchanging notes and live-chatting on Facebook about a myriad of topics. And as if her personality weren’t enough, I find that I have an absolute and unconditional respect and admiration for Missy as she and her husband Paul Raisch are raising four boys (each two years apart), with Missy acting not only as their Mom but also as their teacher as she home-schools them – and loves every minute of it…almost!
I had picked up some Guatemalan and Honduras currency for Missy to give her boys when they lose their teeth, so this was the perfect excuse to make her find the time in her busy schedule to meet up for lunch at Panera. It was great to chat for over two hours about our lives, former classmates, tales of raising our kids (from dramatically different perspectives these days), our mutual friends Jennifer Young and Ashleigh Heath, and our church lives, past and present.
Time is limited for Missy these days as she spends so much time wth her family, but hopefully we’ll get the chance to meet up again sometime soon.
Return to April 2009…
Continue to the next reunion…
How fun to be included in the memoirs of your life, past and present. I feel blessed that God has allowed me the opportunity to reconnect with you. And just as intriguing as I had remembered, I’m still captivated by your sense of humor and countless stories and adventures. And though you deny that you have any talent at drawing, I remember quite well sitting next to you hoping to get a glimpse of your work of art. I value our friendship.
Missy Fodor Raisch
May 19th, 2009