When I look back across my life, you are still there. Sixty-three years, buttery crackers, one roller coaster—and a childhood sport called “Wagonning” that our mothers thankfully knew nothing about.
©Laurie Pace Graphics One Design 2026
"A Friend is a friend forever"
Song by Michael W. Smith
When I Look Back Across My Life, You Are Still There
Some friendships begin before we have any idea who we're going to become.
Mine began at Lake Highlands Junior High School more than sixty years ago. We knew each other's families, houses, dreams—and occasionally far too much about each other's childhood adventures.
My best girlfriend was Janet—J.J. to me. She loved the buttery crackers my mother kept at our house, and together we invented something we called Wagonning.
We had baby brothers about eleven or twelve years younger than we were. When we decided they were sufficiently sturdy, we put them in red wagons, climbed in behind them and raced down one of our steep Lake Highlands hills.
The objective?
Try not to kill our baby brothers.
They loved it.
Our mothers never knew.
Sixty-three years later, I could probably say one word to J.J.—Wagonning—and she would immediately know.
Then there was Candy, who threw the parties where Spin the Bottle somehow appeared, and Paul B., my best male friend, who was like a brother to me. He's the reason I once rode the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags.
Once.
That was sufficient.
Life eventually scattered all of us. Jobs, marriages, children, moves, illness and all the things we never imagined when we were young became part of our stories.
But some friendships stretched instead of breaking.
I've been thinking about Michael W. Smith's song Friends and its beautiful message about friendship, separation and trusting those we love to the Father's care.
Maybe friendship isn't measured by how often we see each other.
Maybe it's something simpler:
When I look back across my life, you are still there.
I cherish that.
The people who knew us before we became whoever the world would eventually know us to be are a special kind of treasure.
Life changes us. Time moves us. Faith carries us.
And sometimes, by the grace of God, the thread remains.
A lifetime really isn't too long to live as friends. On my website blog, I share a large painting I did at the time of our 30th reunion. Please Read the full account here. Elle
Meta description Laurie Pace reflects on childhood friends, sixty-three years of memories, faith, laughter and the precious threads of friendship that remain woven through a lifetime.
SEO / Labels Laurie Pace, Elle Pace, Threads of Grace, friendship, lifelong friendship, childhood friends, Lake Highlands, Lake Highlands Junior High, growing up in Dallas, childhood memories, friends through the years, Michael W Smith Friends, faith and friendship, Christian artist, artist stories, memories and friendship, Texas artist, life reflections, friendship stories
Laurie is an international artist, her paintings are collected in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, DuBai, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, St Thomas, Romania, Greece, Croatia, and Ecuador.
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