in first grade, my best friend Jennifer Bean (the most talented singer in the school, with the prettiest long blonde hair) and i got in a big argument. we vowed never to speak to each other again. …i lasted exactly 12 hours before i felt awful. getting up in the middle of the night, i wrapped up my favorite record in a little package of carefully-chosen construction paper. i left it in her shoe-cubby the next morning before she got to school. over the years, i’ve sometimes wondered if (like all those favorite knitting needles i gave away years later under similar cosmic histrionics) i should’ve just kept the record for myself, or if i realized at the time how appropriate the song was for the occasion: