Dateline Colleyville: August 24, 2001 10:25 AM

THE ''GRAPEVINE GIRLS"

A few weeks ago there was a gathering at one of the beautiful new homes in an upscale Colleyville subdivision. No, it wasn't a planning meeting for a fund-raising gala, or a rally for a political candidate. It was a...it was a...well, if you must know, it was a get together to use up some left over quiche. That's right. My friend, Joanie Trenkle Scott, recently moved to Colleyville after living most of her life in Grapevine. And she had some quiches in her freezer left over from a graduation party she had given her niece. So it seemed like a good reason to get the "Grapevine Girls" together again.

Barbara Trenkle, Debbie Roland, Pam Mitchell, 
Linda Newton, Joanie Scott and Michelle Burger

Let me explain. We are approaching that "delicate decade". You know, the one where you get to wear the red hats. Well, actually some of us are already there - but just barely! Anyway, about twenty years ago we started getting together to celebrate birthdays. I'm the oldest, but only by a few hours. My other friend, Barbara Seals Trenkle (we have to use our maiden names so we can remember who we used to be), was born just a few hours after I was at the same hospital. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Linda Newton, Debbie Roland and Pam Mitchell

My other, other friend, Pam Camp Mitchell, is actually my oldest friend, or I should say the friend I've known the longest. I knew her before she was born. See, her parents knew my parents before any of us were born. I came first, she came 11 months later, and my brother came two months after her. Are you still with me? She lived "in town" - the Bellaire subdivision in Grapevine. Actually I think it was the only subdivision in Grapevine if you don't count downtown. Anyway, I lived in the country. That was when living in the country meant you were poor, not like today when you have to be a millionaire to live in the same country I lived in when I was growing up. I grew up on Mustang Drive. Only it wasn’t Mustang Drive then - it wasn't really even Grapevine then. It was just in the county between Grapevine and Colleyville. Only Colleyville didn't exist then. Well, not until 1956, that is. Our farm stretched from Mustang Drive back to Highway 26 - one hundred acres. The new Best Buy store is on the back corner of what used to be our farm - that is before the airport took it away from us. But that's another column.

Pam Mitchell and her daughter Lori

OK, it's time to go back to Barbara. She lived one street over from Pam in Grapevine. I got to know her when I was about five. Her mother worked for the dentist in Grapevine and my mother worked next door for the "insurance man" (that's what we used to call them - and they used to come to your house to collect the premiums). We started first grade together. Went through all twelve grades together. Were cheerleaders together, etc., etc. Joanie came on the scene somewhere around junior high. Barbara married Joanie's brother, Steve, about 30 years ago. About the same time Joanie married her high school sweetheart, Ross.

Back to Pam. She and I grew up in church together - the old Dove Road Church of Christ. We had a friend there, Debbie Garner Roland, who became one of Joanie's best friends. So she's at this quiche party, too. She's the only one who's moved away - to Florida - but only recently. Pam and Barbara still live in Grapevine. And I've lived in Colleyville 25 years and still wish I lived on the old farm. The other person in the pictures is Michelle Burger. She joined the group about 30 years ago when Joanie, Barbara and Pam's daughters started taking dance lessons from her. They each have two daughters. Three of them were at this get together.

Joanie Scott and her daughters Heather and Miranda

So, you're probably wondering why is this news? Well, it's pretty rare these days to be able to get together with people who not only know your children and grandchildren, but also knew your parents and grandparents as well. We're kind of a cross between Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias, and The Big Chill. We lived through the 60's together (although we were pretty much spared the excesses of the decade - we were more the Beach Boys and Lettermen types), married in the 70's and managed to get through the 80's and 90's as well. We've been through marriages, divorces, births and deaths together. You can't put a value on relationships like these. There's an incredible security in knowing you can be just who you are, say what you think, and never worry about being judged. We can scold, encourage, tease, and poke fun at each other without a second thought. And because my 87 year old mother still calls us "the girls", we are again.

HAVE COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR OTHER STORIES?  
SEND AN EMAIL TO THE EDITORS
Comments will be posted on Editor Emails unless otherwise requested.