A new school year, so many Specific Unions start here. There are Unions between students and teachers, parents and teachers and even between parents and parents. All of these Unions are Specific in their own way. I could go and get deep about any one of those Unions. I’m not going to go there though. I will leave that up to you guys. You can comment about that if you want. One bond however, is just so Union Specific that I had to write about it. It’s the bond these kids form with each other. Union Specific…
The Children in US...
My son’s first day of school was Wednesday, Sept 8th. The night before he was so restless. You should have seen him. I’m talking about he couldn't even sleep. The excitement was building. Just knowing that the next day he was going to see the friends he formed bonds with the year before. Not to mention the new friend he was going to make. He couldn't wait. He wakes up the next day before his alarm even goes off and is ready to go. He has his breakfast and is dressed about 45 minutes before it time to leave. He sits on his bed, so anxious, holding his book bag in his arms as he watches TV. You can tell he's not really watching TV though. He is really watching the clock and counting down the seconds before it is time to go. Finally it’s time to go and he is out the door in a flash. He is the first one in the car, seatbelt fastened and tray table in upright and locked position. We get to the school and there are kids everywhere! They are so happy to see each other. You can tell that they have all be waiting for this day for a while. The day they see their friends again. It’s crazy, these kids don’t even know it yet but the friends they make now can possibly be with them for the rest of their life. These same friends will affect the choices they make and how they will get along in the world. This is where US begins.
How exciting is the first day of school?! As we get older we forget we lose sight of the simple things. As I stood in the schoolyard that day, it all came back to me. I forgot what it was like to see a friend for the first time after a long hot summer. I forgot how significant these bonds are, and how long they can last. I still have friends now from kindergarten. You might think “Kindergarten?! How can you possibly still consider yourselves friends. You haven’t spoken in years!” My thing is that if you are friends, then days, weeks, months & even years can go by and you can pick up like you just spoke to them yesterday. I believe that’s how these kids felt. They feel they will be friends forever. I thought about it and that’s how I felt when I was their age. I thought about it some more and that’s still how I feel now. Once a friend, always a friend. That’s what makes US. I just hope that as these kids get older, they never lose sight of that. The friends that they make now is the purest form of what makes US…
I agree. What these kids have now is pure and not tied to what can be gained somewhere down the line. And a true friend is someone who you may not have spoken to in years and no matter when they hear from you/see you, they are happy to have reconnected with you. Great observation...
ReplyDeleteTrev, you are absolutely right. I have a couple of friends from my elementary school years in which we lost contact but then caught up. And just today I found an friend from JHS on facebook, and it was so weird to read that she thought she would never hear from me ever again. Those bonds really do mean something. They really don't get it now, but when their care free days are gone, they will have that bond to say "remember when..."
ReplyDeleteYes Trevor!!!!! As you said, your TRUE friends, will be your friends forever. Speaking of friends....I went to my JHS reunion last weekend. OMG I haven't seen some of these people in 27 years and it was like we never skipped a beat. We formed a special bond in JHS that was specific to US! The days leading up to the reunion were so exciting. I felt like a child on the first day of school. I also have friends that I have known since kindergarten. As you said Trevor, "those friendships are the purest form that makes US"
ReplyDeleteAs an Army brat it was impossible to maintain those friendships formed in elementary school. I was always the new girl and had to start over every couple of years. I went to four different high schools, so keeping those friends were just as difficult. I say all that to show how much a bond formed in even a short amount of time can last forever. A girlfriend I made while in high school in N Chicago (I went there for two years) recently tracked me down, and I do mean tracked! She couldn't find me on FB, so she googled me, found out the company I worked for and proceeded to call every location til she found the one I was working in! We talked and she came to Atl for the weekend. We got the chance to catch up and hang out and I was so very happy that she made all that effort to find me! That's my US story!
ReplyDeleteI too have friends from kindergarten. More importantly I've just reunited with two of my closest friends from high school (last I saw them was graduation 1999), and it's been the best experience ever! We've picked up exactly where we left off. It's like we never lost contact. It's so reassuring for me at the point in my life to be around people who share a very similar life style. That is the same way we found each other in 1995. The friends I made then are the purest form of what makes US…
ReplyDeleteWe've all heard stories about Facebook getting people in trouble! You know what I mean so I won't elaborate, but the misuse of anything can essentially get you in trouble. With that said, FB has been a blessing for me. I've reconnected with so many people that I was friends with, but life happpened and we just lost touch - though they have always been on my mind! My 1st real boyfriend found me on FB last year and now we're great friends 20 plus years later. While I didn't reconnect with you on FB Trev, I think it keeps US connected and since I've met your lovely wife, sister, etc. On my 34th birthday in ATL I had dinner with my 3 oldest friends (4th, 5th and 8th grade) and I love them just as much now as I did then. And I don't credit that to FB at all, just great friends! Much like the bonds the kids in the school yard are forming! That's my US story...
ReplyDeleteI too have (3) friends that I have been friends with since the age of 6 years old. Two of them moved out of state for a while so we lost day to day touch with each other. However, some how we always knew what was happening that was important in each other lives. I had the pleasure of one of them returning to NY, we picked like she was never gone and was in my wedding 8 years ago (another story within the US story – my husband and I have been friends since the age of 14 years. That was the on of the best thing that happen to me, for me to see him as a significant other as well as a best friend). Now at the age of 40+ my girls friends and I don’t talk everyday, but we when we call each other we can not get off the phone like the old days, we are all still so close. Thanks Trevor for reminding me how important those young years together were. They did mold us into who we are now. Keep up the good work with the blog. Rhoda.
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