Original best friend (and best man at my wedding) Ulrik
When coming upon this "first" in the long list, I immediately knew that I would be blogging about Calli, my best friend from grade school. But then I had this tiny little thought, that my original first best friend was my brother Ulrik, simply because he was right there from the day I was born. To have a sibling who is close in age is to have a best friend sort of built in. You don't need to go and ring anyone's door bell and ask if they can come out and play, you just play.
So Ulrik and I played together, in sickness and in health; soccer, land hockey, card games, and best of all, a made-up indoor slalom game. It entailed us wearing ski goggles, running down the hall as quickly as we could, with poles in our hands, leaning to the left and right to avoid cones. It was timed and Ulrik would ski as Ingmar Stenmark, while I'd ski as Phil Mahre or whoever was second in the world at the time.
Lake Placid 1980; Ulrik (Stenmark) won the gold and I (Phil Mahre) the silver
One day I hope to be able to write something about Ulrik without getting into trouble. I'd write about what a ridiculously cool, handsome and super loyal brother he is, and what an extraordinary dad he is to Lucas, Alexandra and Nicholas. I'd probably also write that one of the most difficult things about living in America is that it is a life without him, if you don't count texting and skyping. But for now, because it seems everything I write is too intimate and embarrassing, I'll shut it. I've probably already said too much, so I will focus on my first best girlfriend.
Calli on the right in her busnel cap
Caroline "Calli" Sallmander started in my class in second grade. Looks wise, we were opposites. Calli had dark, thick hair and was taller than I was. I don't remember what it was that had us connect and become best friends but we had a lot of fun and "stayed together" for quite a few years.
Calli had a great sense of style that I quickly adapted, probably on account of both her parents being in the fashion industry. It consisted of dark jeans, Lacoste polo shirts with the collar always up from under a sweatshirt, and burgundy or navy loafers with tassels. In the winter time, she wore a striped Busnel cap, while mine was a solid burgundy.
Calli and I had a secret club, which was named "CMK," (Calli & Marika Klubben) and our nicknames for each other were "Majken" and "Cajken." Calli had eczema on the inside of her arms and as her best friend, I took it upon myself to stop her from scratching when she got itchy, by slapping her hands away. I think she was allergic to fish, and citrus fruits.
Calli lived pretty close to school, at Karlavägen 117, and I lived in a suburb, so our play dates mostly took place at her family's apartment. We were usually supervised by Diddi, the Sallmanders' housekeeper, who was the most incredible little lady ever. She was from the far north, from a place called Korpilombolo if I remember correctly. This gave her a bit of a funny and slightly Finnish sounding accent. Diddi was kind and patient and made delicious sandwiches and cookies. She even sent me a post card while visiting her family one time, and I still have it.
Calli and I would get into a fair amount of trouble while Diddi was off making afternoon snacks. One afternoon after school, Calli and I sneaked into one of her older sisters' room and hid under the bed. I can't remember if it was Lotta or Catti, but there was a guy over and they were talking or kissing when they discovered we were in there, from the giggles coming from underneath the bed. We got chased out with threats of beatings and big trouble.
Another pastime was making crank calls. We'd sneak upstairs to her parents bedroom and use the phone there, so Diddi wouldn't hear us. We'd look in the phone book and find someone with the last name of Storm or Rain or Lightning, call them and say "Is this Storm?" The idea was they'd say "yes," and then we'd say "well, hold onto your hat then." I can't take credit for coming up with this brilliant scheme, it was the standard crank call for kids to make in Sweden at that time, and although it might sound grammatically incorrect, it worked in Swedish. Especially because people answer the phone by saying their last name.
What didn't work was the actual execution, because we'd start laughing so hard we'd both get bright red, close to peeing our pants and unable to get anything out. Ocasionally we'd get the "Is this Storm?" part out, but that's as far as I remember us getting. Still, a fun way to spend an afternoon.
For whatever reason, our parents' vacation schedules never seemed to fit, so we ended up going to Glämsta Summer Camp during different sessions, and as a result, there were a lot of letters and post cards mailed between us. She would send post cards from her summer house in Stavnäs to me at Glämsta or in Skåne, if I was visiting my dad and grandparents. If I was at Glämsta, her letters had long lists of people to kiss from her. One such letter says; "sending you a thousand kisses, 50 to you, 50 to Danny, and 900 to Morgan." I guess she had a thing for Morgan Wald. She always signed off, "din bästis," which means "your best friend" in Swedish. Sweet.
My only photo of Calli and I, out on the ice at Glämsta's winter session in 1980
As everything fun and happy in life, my time with Calli as my "bästis" came to an end. I don't remember how it all went down, our smaller class had turned bigger and there were other girls around so I suppose we grew apart. But for the years we were together, she was the sweetest, funniest and most considerate best friend a girl could have.
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