I love gabbing
with my BFFS via social media! It feels almost like we are all sitting around
the table at someone’s house having coffee (and something sugary) while we
laugh and talk about our day. I can be at work, ferociously answering calls and
preparing memos when my phone begins to ping…and ping…and ping. I know that something great is going on and I
can’t wait to join in. My post today is
just that…the last bit of pinging that just occurred! I was relating the following story to my friends,
wondering why this information was being given to me now. I believe it came to me so that I could write
about it for this week’s Writer’s Workshop!
When I was a
senior in high school, I took as many electives and I could legally take. One
such elective was a teacher’s aid position at a nearby elementary school. I worked in a Second Grade class with team
teachers…so there was always something happening. I fell in love with a little eight-year old
boy who melted my heart every time I came to class. I loved working and playing with him. At the end of the year, he asked me to come
watch him at one of his baseball games.
I was very flattered and showed up to watch him play. I so enjoyed his game and I think he was
happy to see me, too. That was the last time I ever saw him. I graduated high school and went on with my
life.
As years
went by, I would think of him and wonder what became of him. Did his family
move away? What kind of person had he become?
I tried to locate him on social media once it became available, but I
could not find him. I thought that if he kept the wonderful qualities he had as
an eight-year old, he would probably be living a great life.
I belong to
my high school’s social media page and recently had to add a deceased friend’s
name to the list of “classmates who had passed.” As I scrolled down the
comments to see the other names that were being added, I was completely taken
aback to see my little friend’s name was listed. Could it possibly be him? There was a
memorial that included pictures. He had
passed about six months ago. The name
and year of graduation was right, but I wasn’t sure it was him until I looked
closely at one of his pictures.
Yep! It was him at age
50-something. I could see it in his smile! I was sad to see that he had passed, but when
I read the last line of his memorial, I felt the same heart-melt that I felt so
many years ago. It read:
“A Life Well Lived”
Thank you
for stopping by today. Today’s post is
brought to you by Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop: 4. Pick up your phone, tell us about the last text exchange you had. Please visit by clicking here for posts from some of her other friends who love to write!
3 comments:
Stopping by from Mama Kat's...
I'm sorry that, by the time your paths crossed again, your student had died, but the fact that he could consider his life well-lived is really as a result of all the people he knew, including you. I'm sure your presence at his ballgame meant a lot. When you're 8 years old, things like that do.
So your bio says you're living in Chicago now... I grew up in Rogers Park and lived in Back of the Yards after I was married. We live in Atlanta now, mostly to avoid the weather you've been having...
Aw. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. When I first got on social media and started finding old classmates, I was so sad to learn of the passing of one of my favorite younger kids that used to ride the school bus with me - I was in high school when he was in fifth or sixth grade. I think he died in Afghanistan. A few years later, another guy from my bus died, though I'm not sure what happened to him. I'm at the age where quite a few classmates have passed, and that's sad. But really sad that some of them passed way too young. I am glad your friend's life was well-lived!
Just passing through via Mama Kat's.
Kim
So bittersweet but how lovely your memories of this young boy!
Social Media has brought so many people together, most in a good way. I have been blessed to reunite with my birth son who found me, first through my website, and then on Facebook. A totally positive experience in every way.
Wonderful post!
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