My Best Memory

I’ll never forget that day,
We all sat waiting to hear our name.
Lots of people were really scared
And I was feeling the same.

Finally she started,
Going from first to last.
As I sat there,
I thought of all the time spent practicing in the past.

I listened as many names were called
And watched the tears come down.
I was happy for each one of them
But I couldn’t help but start to frown.

So many things were running through my head
As she neared the end.
Then suddenly I burst into tears,
‘Cause the next name called was that of my best friend.

I looked up at her
As everyone gave hugs to show they cared.
The look on her face told me
That with only 3 names left, she too was very scared.

I put my head in my hands
And it seemed so long as she called the next two.
I looked around the room,
For I had already told myself “the last one won’t be you”.

It was deafly quiet
And I heard my name at last.
As I ran to hug my friend,
The tears came down so fast.

I walked up to the table
And looked back again at her.
Then I got pinned on my shirt
A ribbon that said,

“Prairie Cheerleader”.


By: Lori Kinnison Fortmann