- Chapter Nine -
I Wish I Could See _____ Again

There are many-well, not many, but some-friends that I had while living in Decatur that I have had no contact with whatsoever since I moved from that place. The main two people, Jimmy and Matt, I have known for the longest time out of those that I haven't seen. I am sure that they are very different people now than they were eight years ago, and I guess that I am also a very different person.


The Pee-wee Baseball team
Both Jimmy and Matt were in the Cub Scout pack that I joined in-Jimmy's dad was the leader of our den. His dad was also the coach of the peewee baseball league that the three of us were also a part of. I did not play baseball in the third grade, though, because that was the first year of Little League where instead of the coach pitching the ball, it was a player on the other team. What happened was that I got hit with a ball in practice and thought, "If my coach can't throw a straight ball, how are kids my age supposed to?" I never showed up for another practice, though I did not formally quit. As far as I remember I never did like the sport of baseball-playing or watching it. As an out fielder, most of my time was spent throwing my glove in the air and catching it, pulling weeds, and tossing rocks around. Oh, yeah, I also had to attempt to get and throw in the occasional ball that somehow made its way past the infield. I actually don't remember that much about Jimmy or Matt. We always hung out together at school, but they did not consider themselves my friends.

Joshua went to school with me for one year, and he lived not far from me so I walked home with him. We talked about various things and played different games on the way home. It was on this journey home that I ripped up my first failed piece of homework and hid it under leaves next to a very large rock that was about halfway between my house and school. I don't ever remember seeing him during the school day, the only time I ever saw him was on the way to and from school.

Kevin was a good friend of mine who also only attended Baum Elementary for a single year. During this year I did not hang around with Jimmy and Matt as much and usually spent my recess with Kevin. I remember very little about anything we did together, but I can bring up a mental picture of him.

Chelsea, a girl I knew only in the third grade, used to talk with me at the start of the way home, until we got close to her older brother who would walk her the rest of the way to their home-he stood and waited at an intersection that they turned down, so I never knew exactly where she lived. I don't remember ever talking to her during school, though now that I look at my yearbook, she was in the same class as me.

All of these people I would not mind meeting up with again. It would be interesting what each of them looks like and what their interests are. Their future goals would also be of interest to me. It would just be nice to have a good chat with any one of these people.


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