A real friend...
A little background...I had recently finished watching the North and the South series...one of my x-mas presents in 2012. The kids would sometimes watch with me. And, you may have already seen it...but the central plot of the story is this friendship between Orry (Southerner) and George (Northerner) who remain friends despite being enemies in war. Little did I know that Jax was making applications to his own friendships. His sweet friend, Seth Slocum, has been his best buddy since 4K in Mrs. Penny's class at Northwest. They have played soccer together, spent the night together, gone to midnight movie premiers with their dads, gone bowling, birthday parties, and two full years of school together (4K & 5K). But Seth has a late birthday, and I knew that there was a possibility that he would be held back to repeat kindergarten. I had gently broached the subject with Jax about a month prior to this conversation by saying that there is no garantee that Seth will be in his same class next year. Jax very politely told me that he would put his backpack back on and walk down the hall at MHS until he found Seth. Then he would tell Seth's teacher that they were best friends, and he was staying in that class. :) I left it alone, and decided not to bring it up again until we knew for sure. About a month later, this is the conversation we had:
- He says, "Mom, who won the first war?" We talk about that for a minute and it leads to him asking if Orry is real.
- I said, "No, Orry is just a character in the movie. But the story is real. There were likely many people who had to fight against their friends in this war."
- And he says, "But they stayed friends their whole life no matter what."
- I said, "that's right".
- Jax: "That's like me and Seth. We'll be friends no matter what. But mom, is he going to be in my class next time or not?"
- Me: "Well, baby I can't say for sure. But, I really don't think so."
- Jax: "Then we'll never be friends again?"
- Me: "Of course you can still be friends. You will just have to make special friend time outside of class."
- Jax: "So I won't have any friends in my class next time?"
- Me: "Yes!" ...as I name all the other boys that I can think of that he plays with.
- Jax: "But they aren't my real friends. They're friends, but not my real friends. Seth is my real friend. I don't know how to make a new real friend, mama."
- I told him that he will have many friends and it will be fine. Then we get out at my dad's who is taking him to ride his motorcycle. Jax was walking toward my dad and turns back to me...still has tears in his eyes...and says, "Mom, can I hug you?"
It was truly a precious moment. :) And Jax indeed has lots of friends in his class because I have watched him play and laugh with many of them. However, there is something about making a bond with a special friend that makes you feel safe and secure. I know from experience. :)
Here are a few of their 5K pictures!
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