Making New Friends
From birth to the day we take our last breath, people flit in and out of our lives, sometimes for a lifetime, sometimes for short/significant periods, and sometimes just for a moment. Our lives are touched, occasionally altered, and most often we are better for it. I've always marveled at small children. They have the wonderful ability of looking past exteriors and accepting any other child into their small worlds (even for a short time.) Wesley is now at that age. We'll go to the playground, and even if we aren't planning to meet friends there, I have no doubt that within minutes of our arrival, he'll have a new friend and they'll be off on some unspoken imaginary adventure. Kids have a universal language of "play." Adults tend to seek out friends who have similar interests, often testing the waters through conversations, and then deciding whether or not this person/persons fit neatly into his/her universe. Children take a totally different approa
ch. As long as a child is approximately the same size or age, and is willing, an immediate friendship ensues. This friendship could turn into something lasting or it could be just for that few hours on the playground, it doesn't matter. Since we've started renting our attached house seasonally, we've met many wonderful people who've come into our lives for a short time, but none have been as significant as a little boy named, Duncan. At the end of June, when we were still desperate to find renters, we lucked out with a last minute booking. They called us one morning and were checked in by the afternoon. And as luck would have it, they had a l
ittle boy, a few months older than Wesley. We thought it would be fun that Wesley had someone to play with, who was on sight, but never did we realize how quickly these two kids would latch onto one another. The very first afternoon, Wesley and Duncan were playing together on the beach and then for just about every morning after, Wesley would wake up early and spend the next few hours over in the rental playing with Duncan. I was a bit nervous that Wesley was encroaching on their "vacation space," but Duncan's parents assured me that this was the best vacation they could get. Duncan was happy, Wesley was happy, and we were very happy. What could be better? We took Duncan with us to soccer camp to watch Wesley, strawberry picking, and one afternoon, I watched the boys so that his mom & dad could run errands. They took Wesley hiking, to the Owls Head Transportation museum, and had him over every morning to play. It was like having family staying with us and even if they never stay with us again, their family touched our lives for a short time and we'll never forget them.
From birth to the day we take our last breath, people flit in and out of our lives, sometimes for a lifetime, sometimes for short/significant periods, and sometimes just for a moment. Our lives are touched, occasionally altered, and most often we are better for it. I've always marveled at small children. They have the wonderful ability of looking past exteriors and accepting any other child into their small worlds (even for a short time.) Wesley is now at that age. We'll go to the playground, and even if we aren't planning to meet friends there, I have no doubt that within minutes of our arrival, he'll have a new friend and they'll be off on some unspoken imaginary adventure. Kids have a universal language of "play." Adults tend to seek out friends who have similar interests, often testing the waters through conversations, and then deciding whether or not this person/persons fit neatly into his/her universe. Children take a totally different approa
ch. As long as a child is approximately the same size or age, and is willing, an immediate friendship ensues. This friendship could turn into something lasting or it could be just for that few hours on the playground, it doesn't matter. Since we've started renting our attached house seasonally, we've met many wonderful people who've come into our lives for a short time, but none have been as significant as a little boy named, Duncan. At the end of June, when we were still desperate to find renters, we lucked out with a last minute booking. They called us one morning and were checked in by the afternoon. And as luck would have it, they had a l
ittle boy, a few months older than Wesley. We thought it would be fun that Wesley had someone to play with, who was on sight, but never did we realize how quickly these two kids would latch onto one another. The very first afternoon, Wesley and Duncan were playing together on the beach and then for just about every morning after, Wesley would wake up early and spend the next few hours over in the rental playing with Duncan. I was a bit nervous that Wesley was encroaching on their "vacation space," but Duncan's parents assured me that this was the best vacation they could get. Duncan was happy, Wesley was happy, and we were very happy. What could be better? We took Duncan with us to soccer camp to watch Wesley, strawberry picking, and one afternoon, I watched the boys so that his mom & dad could run errands. They took Wesley hiking, to the Owls Head Transportation museum, and had him over every morning to play. It was like having family staying with us and even if they never stay with us again, their family touched our lives for a short time and we'll never forget them.
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