Little Reminders

I've somehow let another week go by without writing. It's terrible, I know. And believe me it was not for a lack of things going on. This week has been an eventful one. Not in the sense that I have been go, go, go busy (because let's be honest, it's summer and I'm a teacher), but in the sense that I have learned a lot.

For the last two weeks I have been teaching fourth grade summer school at the school where one of my friends teaches kindergarten. And, being that it was the last week of summer school this week, I was none too busy. With my lack of busyness came the opportunity to help my dear friend out in her kindergarten class. Now, folks, I teach sixth grade usually so this was quite the change up for me, but I have to say I absolutely loved it. I loved their innocence, their hunger for learning, their politeness, their silly-ness, their unintentional humor. There was just something about reading them stories and helping them finger paint that rejuvenated me and made me laugh and left me feeling fulfilled. Spending the week with them was like getting a chance to look at life through the eyes of a child again, something we all need to do every now and then.

Another really special part of this week was getting to reconnect with my best friend. For the past 14 months we have lived in separate cities and I have only seen her a handful of times. But I think the mark of a true friend is someone you don't have to see often but with whom everything just falls into place with like you live inside each others minds. That is exactly how things are with Katie. Our friendship is one of those that withstands the tests of time. It overcame a year as roommates (a true feat, in my opinion), four years of college, high school drama, deaths of loved ones, and births celebrated like we shared a family. She is one of the few people I feel that I can be my absolute crazy self around. She is someone I immediately feel at home around because in so many ways she is home to me. A constant reminder that someone who doesn't share my bloodline knows everything about me and loves me anyway. And, honestly, who could ask for a better gift than that?

So, this last week of July was full of little reminders for me. Like a whisper in my ear telling me no matter how hectic or boring life is at any given moment, there should always be an innocence to the way you look at it and there should always someone you can call and tell about it. And if you're lucky enough to have both in the same week, then surely Someone up there is on your side and everything else will work itself out.