When I was a little girl, my family had decided to move from the beautiful and sunny Southern California to a little suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Being only four at the time, I wasn't that affected. For a while, anyway. When the days and weeks started to pass and I realized that I would never see the palm trees outside of my window anymore, an unbelievable sadness took over me. I was only four, but I was already a true California girl.

The first few weeks in Oklahoma were a blur. My parents were busy setting up the house, painting rooms, and making sure that my sister and I were adjusting. My younger sister was barely a year old when we moved. All she did was sleep. I, on the other hand, would beg to play out in the front yard. I had a lot of energy and I didn't want to be inside the house where Mommy and Daddy were painting and occasionally yelling at each other. After much whining and begging, they let me play out into the yard. My mother worked in the front yard to keep an eye on me, to make sure that I didn't wander too far.

I plopped myself down on the soft grass, my Barbie dolls in front of me. Immediately I immersed myself into my make-believe world, where Barbie had moved to another state and left her beloved California behind. I let my Barbies converse and fight with each other, totally oblivious to the little blond boy standing in front of me. It wasn't until he said, "Hi!" that I looked up, and I came back down to reality.

"Hi," I replied curiously, looking at him. He had blond hair and sparkling blue eyes and rosy red cheeks – I couldn't help but wonder why his cheeks were so red. "What's wrong with your cheeks?"

The little boy's face scrunched up like he was going to cry. "There's nothing wrong with my cheeks!" he yelled. "They're just rosy."

"What does that mean?" I asked, already annoyed with him.

"It means they're red like roses," he shot back.

My mother had heard this commotion and came up to me. "Sweetie, what are you yelling at?" she asked, peering at Taylor.

"Mommy, what's wrong with his cheeks?" I figured that if the boy couldn't answer me, my mother could.

"Nothing honey, they're just rosy," she replied in a motherly tone. "What's your name?" she asked the little boy.

"I'm Taylor," he said. "Jordan Taylor Hanson. But you can call me Taylor."

My mother was already smitten by this little boy. "Hi Taylor, I'm Mrs. Mac," she said. "Where's your mommy, honey?"

"In the house. She said I could play out in the yard."

"Where's your house?" My mother asked.

Taylor pointed across the street. Just as he did that, his mother came out. "Jordan Taylor Hanson!" she cried out, crossing the street. "What did I tell you about leaving the yard?"

"I'm sorry Mommy!" he said, as she made her way towards us. Like her son, Mrs. Hanson had blonde hair and cheerful eyes. "I just wanted to come play with her!" He pointed at me. I glared at him.

Mrs. Hanson reached our yard. "Tay, Tay, Tay. What am I going to do with you?" she sighed, picking up her son. She smiled at my mother, who smiled back. "Hi, I'm Diana Hanson. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before, I've been busy," Mrs. Hanson said, reaching out her free hand.

My mother shook her hand. "I'm Sandra Mac," she replied. "And this is my daughter, Trish."

Mrs. Hanson and Taylor looked down at me. Mrs. Hanson smiled. "Hi Trish sweetie," she said in the nicest voice I'd ever heard. "I'm Mrs. Hanson, and this is my son Taylor."

"Hi," I replied.

Mrs. Hanson put Taylor down, and he sat across from me in the grass. Our mothers chatted, and my mom was invited to go across the street to have some coffee with Mrs. Hanson. My mom went inside to get my dad, who got my younger sister, Erica. I didn't want to go, but I had to. Taylor walked beside me, chatting away, saying that he liked my Barbie dolls. I asked him if he liked to play Barbies and he got all offended, saying that he was a boy and didn't like those. I shrugged. I hoped he had sisters.

But when we got to the house, I found two other boys, a father, and another baby. The parents all introduced themselves again and went to get coffee while I was stuck with the boys. I sat down on the floor, and Taylor followed me. I didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to become my best friend, especially if he didn't like Barbie dolls.

"Ike says that girls have cooties," Zac said, watching us from afar. He was my age, with the same blond hair as Taylor, but hazel eyes.

"They do have cooties," Isaac said, disgusted. He was almost five years older than me and thought he knew it all. "Taylor will have cooties too!"

"I will not!" Taylor huffed angrily. "Mommy says cooties don't exist!"

"That's because Mommy is a grown-up and she doesn't have cooties anymore!" Isaac said matter-of-factly. "You'll get cooties because Trish has cooties!"

"I don't have cooties!" I shouted. Wasn't I lovely?

"Yes, you do!" Isaac said. Zac looked scared and lost, his eyes going from Taylor to me to Isaac.

"No I don't!" I screamed, starting to cry.

Mrs. Hanson came in. "Boys, what'd you do?" she asked, kneeling down and smoothing my hair to calm me down. Surprisingly, it did. I just started to sniffle.

"Ike said Trish has cooties because she's a girl!" Zac spoke up, happy to have some part.

Mrs. Hanson turned to face her eldest son. "Ike, what did I say about those? They don't exist hon, it's just your friends lying to you," she scolded.

Isaac didn't say anything; he just bowed his head in shame. "Trish, you don't have cooties honey, don't listen to Ike," she told me. "Cooties aren't real."

"Told you," Taylor said to Isaac. Isaac crossed his eyes at him before Mrs. Hanson caught him.

"Okay kids, play nice okay? The grown-ups are having coffee, and if you're good maybe we'll order pizza for you later," Mrs. Hanson said, standing back up.

"PIZZA!" Zac yelled happily.

I looked at the three brothers wearily after Mrs. Hanson had left. They looked back at me. The next line made me want to marry Taylor: "Do you want us to play Barbies with you?" he asked.

I nodded, and handed him one of my dolls. The other two boys joined in shortly afterwards, with their G.I. Joes in hand. Thus began a very interesting relationship with the Hansons.