The Ones Who Showed Up—and the Ones Who Slept In
By A.L. Childers | The Freckled Oracle™ – Truth, Wit & Wearable Wisdom
www.TheHypothyroidismChick.com
Let’s hear it for the kids who never missed a day—and the ones who missed all the days that ended in “Y.” 😄
This is a tribute to the loyal classroom soldiers and the hallway Houdinis—because school was a different kind of battlefield, and we all had our own way of surviving it.
Take my childhood best friend, Vanessa Scott, for example. Straight outta Bennettsville, South Carolina, this girl had twelve solid years of perfect attendance. Rain, sleet, stomach bugs, full moons, bad cafeteria food—Vanessa was there. Her record was so clean it practically sparkled. Her desk had tenure. If there was an attendance Olympics, she would’ve taken the gold by 6th grade.
And then… there was me.
A proud member of the “always out” club. I wasn’t sick—I was spiritually unavailable. I saw those early-morning bells as more of a suggestion. Some days, I just needed to be on a personal field trip to the couch with my thoughts (and maybe The Price Is Right).
I called them “mental health days” before it was trendy. I was ahead of my time, y’all.
But even though Vanessa was always in, and I was frequently out, we were inseparable. We became best friends in kindergarten—circa 1977—and have been tight ever since. Yin and yang. Honor roll and hallway runner. I still remember walking to the Ice House together for snacks, which only true Bennettsville folks will remember. (Hot fries, Big K soda, and a dream. That’s the real lunch special.)
Our friendship wasn’t about being the same. It was about showing up for each other—even when I didn’t show up to class.
It’s funny to look back now and realize how different our paths were. She was the model student, the ever-present pillar of consistency. I was the freckled escape artist with a tendency to emotionally evaporate when science class rolled around. And yet—our connection never missed a beat.
So here’s to the ones who sat in the front row, and the ones who were probably still home, finishing their cereal at noon.
Here’s to Vanessa, and to everyone lucky enough to have a friend who stuck by them—whether it was in homeroom or life’s harder moments.
Because attendance isn’t always about showing up in the classroom. Sometimes, it’s about showing up in someone’s heart and staying there for decades.
🧠 Keywords: Bennettsville SC blog, Gen X school stories, perfect attendance humor, Southern childhood friendship, Vanessa Scott Bennettsville, mental health days school, 1980s nostalgia, Ice House Bennettsville, truancy humor, funny classroom memories, The Freckled Oracle, The Hypothyroidism Chick, lifelong friendship, southern bloggers
📌 Disclaimer:
This blog is intended for storytelling, nostalgic reflection, and entertainment. All names and memories are shared with love, laughter, and Southern-style storytelling. No shade to perfect attenders or professional skippers—we all survived school in our own magical way. 😉
🖋️ With Love and Late Slips,
A.L. Childers – The Freckled Oracle™
Truth, Wit & Wearable Wisdom
📍 www.TheHypothyroidismChick.com
About the Author:
Audrey Childers, writing as A.L. Childers, is an ACA-licensed health insurance agent turned full-time truth-teller. With over 200 books published, she’s building a creative empire fueled by fire, freckles, and the freedom to never be silenced again. She’s the voice for the ones who got burned but still showed up. And when she glows, egos burn.
The Freckled Oracle™
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