Pine View...

My school colours were blue and green. What a fancy sounding name for a school: "Pine View". It was 1978 and I was nine. The halls were decorated with eagles, as that was the school mascot. There was an odd mixture of extremely wealthy kids from the top of Cherry Hill, and terribly poor kids from the city. I lived in the city. I always had extra energy and practically ran when I walked, so when I saw that there was a Cross Country team, I was drawn to it instantly. Most of the kids that ran were rich, and after practice, their parents came to pick them up in their shiny, new cars. Dad worked overtime at the Colgate factory, so I had no transportation back home. My house was several miles away. Mr. Lang was our coach. He had sandy blond hair, a thick mustache, and his face seemed to always be red. I clearly stood out from the rest of the girls, as I had no designer shoes and had an impossibly tiny waist. My hair was long and black and almost two feet long. Most of the girls had modern hair styles, while mine was always falling in my face. Mr. Lang taught us how to stretch, and the importance of discipline. My legs were long and thin; I had the body of an athlete. We trained hard every day, running around the school as a warm-up, and then we hit the trails in the woods that surrounded the school on a larger scale. We ran about three miles a day after our stretches. I wanted to impress Mr. Lang. Looking back now, I realize that I just wanted to be accepted and appreciated. I wanted to make him proud and be an asset to our team. After practice one day, I was running the long distance home, as I did every day, and Mr. Lang spotted me. He pulled up along side me in his car, and asked why I was running. I explained to him that I had no way home, and that I ran every day because the bus had already gone. The look on his face was of absolute shock. He offered me a ride and I gladly accepted. He saw my determination, and from that day on, I rode with Mr. Lang. He not only took me home every day after practice, but when it was time for us to race other schools, sometimes as far as 55 miles away, I rode with him. I became his apprentice and he molded me into one of his best runners. After three years under his training, I had won several medals, and over thirty ribbons. I was still extremely thin, but my muscles were well built, and sculpted for life. I was teased mercilessly every day there at Pine View...kids can be more cruel than an executioner. At the end of each day, just before the bell rang, the principal, Mr. Dooley, came on over the loud speaker, and made the daily announcements. I could hear the snickers in my direction, and I tried to hide my shoes under my chair. Most of the time I wore my brothers' shoes that had been handed down. I bit my lips and picked at an imaginary dent in my school desk, avoiding the eyes that were glaring at me. When Mr. Dooley began announcing the school's sports competitions, I nervously waited. "And in fifth place, for the girls Cross Country race against Galena, Birgitta Eves....."

The kids weren't snickering anymore.