SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
By Patrica Belanger
The Hamilton Spectator(Aug 11, 2006)
It was a strange twist of fate that found me in a Hamilton Tim Hortons in June with my three best friends from high school. Had it really been 20 years?
I'd gone to a lot of trouble to look good for the reunion -- a facial, manicure, body wrap, body peel. I'd paid someone to put hot wax on visible and not-so-visible parts of my body and then rip it off, all in the name of beauty.
I'd put the fear of god into my hairdresser while she was colouring the white hairs exploding from my scalp. "Just make me look young and beautiful!" I said. "I'm meeting my best friends from high school next week. It's been 15 years."
OK, so I lied about the number of years it's been since high school, but it was for a good cause -- me, Pat Belanger, former Beach Strip resident and Delta girl, wanting to look good in front of the old gang.
Last stop was to buy spiked heels to look sexy in, a new outfit to look younger in, a Delta Burke bra to push it all up and support panties to push it all down.
So there I was scrubbed, plucked, coloured, waxed, straightened and clipped as I walked into the restaurant for our reunion. I threw open the front door, tripped and broke the toe strap on my $100 Nine West shoes!
"I need tape ... I need tape," I screamed to the waitress. "Would you like some fries with that tape?" she asked. "This is no time for jokes," I said. "I'm meeting my best friends from high school here. It's been 15 years."
I limped into the dining room, spotted Patty and Liz, and the first words out of my mouth after 20 years were, "I broke my toe strap. Anyone have any gaffer tape in their purse?"
It was a wonderful reunion. But despite all the laughter, our circle was not complete. Liz had spent a week trying to locate Janice, the final member of our group, but hadn't been able to find her.
We met two days later for coffee at Tim Hortons and as I sat down, I noticed a very pretty woman sitting at the table beside me. Meanwhile, back at the counter, Patty had also noticed her.
"See that woman over there," she said to Liz. "Doesn't she look like Jan?" Liz walked right up to the woman and said "Excuse me, but my friend seems to think you look like our long-lost friend, Janice." After a pause, the woman looked right at me and said, "That's because I am Janice!"
Apparently the scream that came out of my mouth could be heard down the street. Liz had found Jan the night before and had decided to surprise all of us.
There were lots of tears and laughter and, as I looked into each of their faces, I still saw sparkles of the innocent young girls they used to be.
Running the halls of Delta, talking about -- what else -- boys, boys, boys. We were young and filled with hopes and dreams.
We had no idea that the friendship the four of us shared would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I was thankful for having had each of them in my life to lean on, learn from and laugh with.
We had come full circle and despite the passage of time we were forever bonded. A little older, a lot wiser but forever the Delta Girls.
Hamilton native Patrica Belanger is a freelance producer-writer living in the U.S.
Photo- The Delta Girls finally found each other again. From left are Liz, Patrica, Jan and Patty.
By Patrica Belanger
The Hamilton Spectator(Aug 11, 2006)
It was a strange twist of fate that found me in a Hamilton Tim Hortons in June with my three best friends from high school. Had it really been 20 years?
I'd gone to a lot of trouble to look good for the reunion -- a facial, manicure, body wrap, body peel. I'd paid someone to put hot wax on visible and not-so-visible parts of my body and then rip it off, all in the name of beauty.
I'd put the fear of god into my hairdresser while she was colouring the white hairs exploding from my scalp. "Just make me look young and beautiful!" I said. "I'm meeting my best friends from high school next week. It's been 15 years."
OK, so I lied about the number of years it's been since high school, but it was for a good cause -- me, Pat Belanger, former Beach Strip resident and Delta girl, wanting to look good in front of the old gang.
Last stop was to buy spiked heels to look sexy in, a new outfit to look younger in, a Delta Burke bra to push it all up and support panties to push it all down.
So there I was scrubbed, plucked, coloured, waxed, straightened and clipped as I walked into the restaurant for our reunion. I threw open the front door, tripped and broke the toe strap on my $100 Nine West shoes!
"I need tape ... I need tape," I screamed to the waitress. "Would you like some fries with that tape?" she asked. "This is no time for jokes," I said. "I'm meeting my best friends from high school here. It's been 15 years."
I limped into the dining room, spotted Patty and Liz, and the first words out of my mouth after 20 years were, "I broke my toe strap. Anyone have any gaffer tape in their purse?"
It was a wonderful reunion. But despite all the laughter, our circle was not complete. Liz had spent a week trying to locate Janice, the final member of our group, but hadn't been able to find her.
We met two days later for coffee at Tim Hortons and as I sat down, I noticed a very pretty woman sitting at the table beside me. Meanwhile, back at the counter, Patty had also noticed her.
"See that woman over there," she said to Liz. "Doesn't she look like Jan?" Liz walked right up to the woman and said "Excuse me, but my friend seems to think you look like our long-lost friend, Janice." After a pause, the woman looked right at me and said, "That's because I am Janice!"
Apparently the scream that came out of my mouth could be heard down the street. Liz had found Jan the night before and had decided to surprise all of us.
There were lots of tears and laughter and, as I looked into each of their faces, I still saw sparkles of the innocent young girls they used to be.
Running the halls of Delta, talking about -- what else -- boys, boys, boys. We were young and filled with hopes and dreams.
We had no idea that the friendship the four of us shared would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I was thankful for having had each of them in my life to lean on, learn from and laugh with.
We had come full circle and despite the passage of time we were forever bonded. A little older, a lot wiser but forever the Delta Girls.
Hamilton native Patrica Belanger is a freelance producer-writer living in the U.S.
Photo- The Delta Girls finally found each other again. From left are Liz, Patrica, Jan and Patty.