There were two moments in my life that my mother felt guilt that she vowed to carry to her grave. One was letting me compete in a dance contest when I was about 10 years old and refusing to get me a real costume. The other was not buying an all white dress for my holy communion. I loved that dress! It was black gingham on the top with a white eyelet skirt and it had a yellow sash with a fake daisy on it. She was mortified seeing me lined up along side all the mini brides, but I was happy. I believed she really would never get over that guilt and now that I am a mom and have had a few of those guilty moments, I believe she never did. Margo, the 11year old, was asked to write about a disappointing moment in her life. Her exact words are below, and I will take this to my grave.
Where and Why? By Margo cox
Here I am in first grade standing outside of the classroom just waiting and wondering…
It was going to be grandparents’ day and my grandma couldn’t come. So, my really close friend from Dallas was in town and wanted to come and see me. When I found this out, I was so excited that I was jumping up and down! When it came to that day I could hardly stand still when we were singing. The whole time I was looking for her. I never saw her in the audience. I thought to myself, “ Oh, its okay. She’s just a little late.” I took my mind off of it. After the performance, which felt like it would just drone on and on, we all ran outside to our classrooms. Everyone was looking for their grandparents. They were all saying, “ Have you seen a person this tall with gray hair?” While stretching their arm as high as they could. Some of the guys would say, “Yes!” and of course the person asking would have to say, “Where?” The guys would say, “There! There!” and, “There!” and point to every grandparent in the room. After a while people would stop asking the boys. I was still looking for my friend. I couldn’t find her. I was devastated, sad and lonely. I was standing outside of my first grade classroom teary eyed and starring at the driveway waiting for her to drive up and get out of the car and run to me to give me a big hug, sweeping me off my feet. I walked over to the bench and sat down. My teacher, Miss Baker, came out when she realized I wasn’t there. She sat down next to me and said, “You know there is cake inside.” I just looked at her with my teary eyes. Then she said, “You’re not the only one without someone here.” I still didn’t respond. She said, “ How about this. I’ll be your special friend and so will Lindsey.” Lindsey’s grandparents couldn’t come either. She stood up and held out her hand and said, ”Come on,” hoping I would grab her hand. I grabbed her hand and walked into the classroom. I ate cake and watched all the happy kids with their grandparents. Finally when the day was over my mom was waiting in the driveway. I ran out the door and into the car. I drove home silently while she told me why my friend wasn’t there. I still didn’t understand and I was still really sad. Almost crying. I got to see my friend later that weekend, but not for very long. She was really sorry and promised she would never do that again.
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