It was Cheryl’s long, black curly hair that first caught Lisa’s attention in 1967. They were at primary school together in Lakeland, Florida, and Cheryl would joke around with Lisa by dangling her ponytail on her desk. “She was always being silly,” remembers Lisa. In second grade, Cheryl broke her arm. “The teacher asked Lisa to write the answers for me. She’s so smart, so she was helping me with the answers too.”
Lisa says they made each other laugh, just as they do now. “She was really outgoing and I’m a lot quieter, so I think Cheryl brought me out of my shell a little bit.” They grew up living on the same street and went through primary and high school together, always remaining close. “We were in a club where you could volunteer for the local community, as well as our junior high band,” says Cheryl. “We would go to the movies together as part of a big group of friends.” Later, they ended up at the same college, the University of Florida; Cheryl got married shortly after they graduated and Lisa was one of her bridesmaids. “We were so close, I don’t think we ever even had a fight,” says Cheryl. They were also “really close” with each other’s mothers, too. “I remember Cheryl’s mum made this amazing cheesecake and would drive up the street to bring it to us,” says Lisa.
