Anne Shirley, Paige, and Me

Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery is one of my favorite books. It's the perfect, cozy, carefree book to read under a shady tree on a breezy summer day. My mother and I read it together a few years ago and I've loved it ever since. Now I have a special hardcover edition that I treasure. I guess I love this book so much because I see myself in Anne Shirley in some ways. Anne has a big imagination, and so do I. Sometimes it runs away with both of us! Anne's imagination especially reminds me of myself when she and Diana imagine that the woods are haunted and Anne scares herself. I've done things like that many times! Anne is also adopted by Matthew and Marilla, and I was adopted too, only I was just a baby when I was adopted, unlike Anne who was eleven.

But mostly, Anne reminds me of myself in her friendship with Diana Barry, her "bosom friend." I have a friend like this too. My best friend, Paige Shepherd. Paige moved next door to me last year. Paige comes from Chicago. Her mother and father are divorced, and her mom is a music teacher. She and Paige moved here because Paige's mom wanted to teach in a more rural area. So, they moved into an old "fixer-upper" house next to mine. I met Paige last Summer, when I was actually sitting under my favorite shade tree, reading Anne of Green Gables. There was a moving truck at the old house next door, and I kept seeing a tall woman with curly black hair, carrying things inside. But I didn't think too much of it, and kept reading. I was deep into my book. Then, a girl about my age stepped out of the old house. She looked over my way, and I waved. She waved a small wave, and walked toward me.
"Hi." Said the girl. "I'm Paige Shepherd." She dug her bare toes into the grass.
"I'm Frankie Schafer," I told her. "Are you moving in next door?"
Paige nodded. "My mom and I are moving in today," she said.
"I'm glad," I told her. "I've been hoping for a girl my age to move into that house. I'm sure we will be friends! 'Bosom friends,' even!" I said, quoting Anne.
Paige laughed, looking at my book, which I set on the ground.
"I know what that's from. You're reading Anne of Green Gables! I love that book! Have you ever read it before?"
I nodded. "At least four times already. I love it too."

I patted the grass next to me, and Paige sat down. I showed her the pretty illustrations in my book, and we talked as if we'd been friends our whole lives. She told me about her old apartment in Chicago, and her interest in art, and her pet cat. I told her about my family's farm, and my older brothers, and my piano lessons. She reminded me a lot of Anne's friend Diana, with her long, wavy black hair. She doesn't have black eyes like Diana does though, but they are a nice light blue. I thought; if only I had long red braids and freckles, we'd be a perfect pair. But my lack of red braids didn't stop us from being kindred spirits, just the same as Anne and Diana.

Frankly,
Frankie