1. God
2. Thea – she was my friend in third grade
3. She could draw pictures of people with such exactitude. It just seemed to come out of her. I could appreciate the finished product but didn’t observe the process or the patience or the practice that went into what she did.
4. We wrote stories together. Or maybe it was side by side.
5. We made each other laugh.
6. And school was a safe place for me because of her.
7. And I couldn’t understand or appreciate that, nor communicate it to her.
8. Boys would tease me that she was my girlfriend but no, I couldn’t have that, boys weren’t supposed to play with girls or like to do “girly” things. If anything though, she was kind of a “tomboy,” liked to hang around with boys, I think she played soccer and was probably quite skilled, and stronger and faster and smarter than me, though I never could have admitted it.
9. We remained close through fourth grade then drifted apart. Eventually she moved with her family to Alabama, and I saw her maybe a couple of times after that, when she came back to school to visit, and in college years when I was invited to a party with several friends from school and acted perfectly disgracefully but didn’t actually collapse.
10. Today Thea has a fine husband and a daughter approaching adulthood and still draws and makes designs using the gifts that were in evidence when we were young. Occasionally we see each other on Facebook and wave.
11. Memories of friends throughout life reinforce my appreciation and gratitude. What can I do today to project that rather than regret?