School, Friends, Bench

In grade school, I got to be a crossing guard. The nuns gave me a red diagonal strap to show my position and to emphasize my role, they even gave me a badge. It was plastic but grade school children didn’t notice the difference.

My only thirty-minute responsibility was to make sure the traffic was clear for my school friends to safely get home. Being a small town, traffic wasn’t a big problem but there were always a car or two who needed to stop when my hand was raised halfway across the street.

It was kinda of a lonely experience. My friends had already gone home. After my duty was complete, I would walk home alone. There was no one making sure that I safely crossed the street. I remember it was a Friday and the free weekend was ahead of me. I was excited to get home and change from my school uniform. The last group of friends crossed the street and I was free, but also alone.

Walking home after only a couple of blocks, I saw my gang of friends sitting on the corner bench waiting for me. I just stopped for a moment. It never happened before but there they were jumping up and waving me over. Outwardly, I smiled back but inward I was smiling to myself that I had such good friends.

Oh, spending the weekend with them was a lot of fun too.