Nancy Graf was my first grade "girl friend"... she never knew it, of course, but she was definitely my favorite girl to chase on the playground at Oak Park Elementary.  I'd pull her pigtails and she would giggle and run away... a sure sign of friendship.

I would invite her to my birthday parties, and she would invite me to hers, we'd exchange hand-made valentines, and our Norman Rockwell childhood was one of genuine friendship.

She was both cute and smart, although we boys could never speak aloud of such things, and no one was surprised when she ended up valedictorian of the Class of 1957.

You'll have to grant me this:
I sure knew how to pick 'em...                       Jim Peden