In third grade, my mom got remarried and we moved into a new house with my new stepfather, which also meant going to a new school. I liked my new house and my new school, but at the same time I missed all of my friends from my old school and my old neighborhood. Especially Katie, the little girl who lived downstairs in the two family house that my mom and I lived in with Jennica and my Aunt Val.
It had been so cool having a friend who lived right downstairs, who I could play with whenever I wanted without having to go elsewhere. So after we moved, I think I got a little depressed. I was only eight years old, so maybe that’s not quite what it was, but I think that’s about the closest I can come to describing what I was going through. My whole life was new and different, I missed Katie a lot, and I didn’t know any of the other kids in the neighborhood yet. And on top of that, I was now old enough to be a latchkey kid, so I’d come home every day after school to an empty house all alone. I remember watching a lot of TV during this time, and not wanting to go out and play very much.
Not even my stuffed animals and My Little Ponies could cheer me up.
Then just after my ninth birthday, I was walking home after school. There was a pretty big, busy intersection I had to cross to get back and forth to school, but luckily there was a crossing guard there to help. He was an older guy, probably retired and looking for something to do. He used to wear a cap like the ones my Grampa liked to wear, and he was very kind. He always said hello to me, by name and everything. I think his name was Mr. Weatherby. And even if it wasn’t, doesn’t that just sound like the name of an old crossing guard? 😆
This particular day, I came up to the big intersection of St. James and Carew and a little girl was waiting to cross too. She looked my age, or maybe a little younger, and I had never seen her before. She looked at me and said, “Excuse me, but what grade are you in?”
I said, “I’m in third grade.”
She asked me if I knew Casey, a girl in my class, and when I said I did, she asked me if she was in school that day.
I thought about it for a minute, trying to remember if I had seen her, and then I said, “No, I think she’s sick. That’s what I heard anyway, from her brother.” Her twin brother, Gabriel, was in our class too. “She’s not gonna be back for a couple days.”
The girl looked like she was about to cry. She started to tell me the whole story. She would go over to Casey’s house after school, because her mom worked and she wouldn’t let her stay at home alone.
“And now I don’t know what to do ’cause Casey isn’t here and my mom isn’t home and I don’t have a key to my house and I’m gonna be in so much trouble.” The girl was almost on the verge of tears, and I felt terrible for her.
“You can come home with me,” I said. “My mom’s not home either, but I have a key, and I stay home alone until she gets home.”
The girl gave me a watery smile, and started to perk up. We crossed the street together, said hello to the crossing guard, and walked back to my house together.
And that is how I met my friend Jessi. I liked her right away. She was in second grade, so she was a little younger. And that’s why I had never seen her before.
I brought her home and made sure to call my mom to let her know I had made it home. I told her about meeting Jessi, and asked her if it was all right if Jessi stayed here today. My mom said it was okay, and Jessi looked relieved.
We played and watched Duck Tales on TV and had a great time. I gave Jessi some of my leftover carrot cake from my birthday party, and she loved it. It turned out she only lived a couple of streets away, and her parents were divorced too. It was just her and her mom, so I could relate to that.
And even after Casey got better, Jessi liked coming to my house so much that she just kept coming over. She would wait for me after class, and we’d walk over to my house together. My mom said it was okay, because I think she was glad I had a friend again, and it made me feel good that my mom trusted us to stay home alone for a couple of hours.
After Jessi came into my life, I didn’t feel so sad about things anymore. I had finally made a new friend, and we’d play together after school every day.
