Members of The F.B.I.
Little did they know that their club, dubbed the “Friendly Brats Institute” would span more than six decades!
An eighth-grader is too old to play on monkey bars but too young to attend high-school dances. So, what do you do to be a part of a pack? Join a club!
In our case, back in 1953, we formed our own club—mainly to have an excuse to eat! We were nine gals living in Brighton, Ont., who gathered in one another’s homes every other Friday night, usually after skating or attending a movie, to listen to records, do crafts, celebrate birthdays, have a pajama party or just to gab and snack.
After much discussion, we named our new organization the Friendly Brats Institute (F.B.I.). Of course, we needed a logo so we each carefully embroidered F.B.I. on a piece of felt with a pin on the back and wore our badges proudly. Next we created a motto, which was, “It’s More Fun to be a Friend Than to be a Brat.” It was essential to keep minutes of our meetings and fortunately, the scribbler with those notes in it has survived all these years. Although we each went our separate ways after high school into careers that included nursing, clerking, teaching and secretarial jobs, we always kept in touch.
Over the years we have attended one another’s showers, weddings, christenings and alas, funerals, having lost one member to a car accident and another to cancer. It’s been wonderful to share experiences of married life, recipes, make-up, menopause, retirement, grandchildren and travels. The main joy is that we start our conversations right where we left off even if they began months, or even a year earlier. It’s been 67 years since we formed our club and we are still getting together—and eating! Today we still think of ourselves as the F.B.I., but now it stands for Fabulous Beautiful Individuals. As we’re all pushing 80, we deserve the new name!