Thank You For Being My Friend

Dear Friend:

If you received a link to this blog post I count you as a friend.  Please click on this link and read on:

http://youtu.be/ZN3E9Yyd1HA    

 

I have been thinking about doing this for a long time and finally decided what I wanted to say.  This has been edited down to about half of it's original length so forgive my ramblings but I have 13 yrs worth of stuff to get in. I do not make friends easily and some of you may be wondering how I can count you as a friend when we have never spent any time away from ACS together.  A friend to me isn't how much time is spent together: it is the quality of time and trust and affection that builds over time.

 

When we started at ACS I was taking a huge leap out of my comfort zone.  You embraced me with affection and made me feel welcome and needed. I remember Mrs. Semichy saying, "Well, it's your turn." and it was true.  I may have felt out of place but it was my turn to be a parent. It took a while but I truly felt at home and that I could be myself much of the time and not be judged - or be judged but forgiven.  Good friends do that. 

 

I have always been able to count on you.  I have counted on you as a room parent to step up and take on part of a party when all I wanted to do was do it all: I had to learn to share.  I have counted on you to tell me what else is needed and how important something was to you so that we could make adjustments, so we could share things that mean something to us.  I have counted on you to be there.  I have counted on you to call me about my sick/injured kid so I could come out to school for the third time that day and pick them up.  When one of my kids got the sniffles on a party day and you took over you didn't complain when I over explained what was in my head.  I counted on you to tell me how poorly we did on the fourth grade Holiday party - total failure! - and how we were going to make it up in spades for the Valentine's Day party and did. 

 

Thank you for letting me be room parent a hundred times.  I loved just making a difference in our kids days.  I loved having the kids be excited about the parties we planned and the excursions we took.  It was really a 'we' thing.  I appreciate that you never complained at my hundreds of e-mails and reminders.  I appreciated you forgiving me when I dropped the ball and had to call you to come help with a last minute book reading or project.  You are the best.

 

We have learned together how to sew and glue and use spit and tape to make somethin' it ain't.  The plays were always my favorite.  I both dreaded and looked forward to them in so many ways.  How we would sort costumes and decide who would wear what and what needed altered and how to alter it.  We learned how to make Monkey pants and Lion's manes.  How many rehearsals did we go to?  How many times did we have those last minute things Mrs. Curtis 'forgot' and we had to scramble to find a tray/table/chair/hat/apron?  I loved it because I was working with you.

 

Thank you for being there for me as we helped Shannan realize her Book Fair dreams.  Thank you for your artistic talents and for taking over on things that I was really in over head on.  Thank you for taping, cutting, pasting, drawing, sewing, and creating something great out of chaos.  Thank you for showing up at the book fair to put your unlimited talents to work or to cashier or to pack up books or to pick me up when all my energy is sapped.  You were great!

 

Thank you for thinking I was capable enough to be on your committee or to help out.  Thank you for having confidence in me when I wasn't so sure I could do what was needed.  And thank goodness, most of the time, it worked out great.  Thank you for allowing me to serve our kids.

 

Thank you for being the friend I can confide my worries about my kids teachers to.  Thank you for being supportive and listening to my fears about whether or not I was doing the right thing.  Thank you for being the teacher my kid needed.  Thank you for finding my kids' strengths and drawing them out.  Thank you for watching over them on field trips or when they were left at school - more than once. Thank you for giving me a hug when you knew I needed it.  Thank you for sending me those texts and e-mails that reminded me to do something I had forgotten.  Thank you for forgiving me my faults.

 

I apologize for hurting your feelings - and I know I have many times.  And I appreciate you forgiving me each and every time.  I know I can be stubborn when things aren't going how I picture it in my head so thank you for indulging my odd whims and foibles.  I can't say it enough that it was always, always for the kids, for our kids.  This is no excuse for my bad behavior, the apology is sincere.

 

I wanted to make this place, ACS, a place that was more than just education.  I know it was more than that for me.  I wanted our kids to keep that wonder in their eyes that I lost so long ago.  I wanted to make them smile and have fun.  I wanted what you wanted, to keep them young for as long as possible.  Innocence is so fleeting but I think we pulled it off and kept them young for a day, a minute, a moment longer.

 

So, thank you for being my friend.  I hope this isn't really the end.  We've traveled down this road and I want to know where our kids end up.  Because I do consider them my kids too.  I love them. 

 

And, I love you.

 

All my best forever!

 

Sherri