Tonight I attended a fund raiser. Not my usual evening out. Amid the artists, lawyers, and friends of friends of friends of the focus of the fund raiser was a person from my past.
Years ago, when I first moved to Ann Arbor, I was involved in the Youth Companion Program. A program not unlike Big Brothers, Big Sisters, it was run on a local level, matching adult volunteers with young people. The little girl I was matched with was Shannon.
Shannon was five or so, blond, and full of innocent kid-ness that five year olds have. She was a treat. We went swimming, went on picnics, saw movies, went to the zoo, and countless other things I can’t remember now. Occasionally, her brother tagged along with us. I remember the first time they both piled in the car. I was terrified. Terrified something would go wrong, terrified they’d get hurt, terrified of the responsibility of having these two kids in my care. And everything went great. Nobody got hurt, nothing went wrong, and I chilled out after about five minutes of worry.
After a while, our relationship ended. I was her ‘Big Sister’ for more than five years and less than 10 years. I often wondered what happened to her, where she might live, what kind of person she was. And, tonight, I got to find out.
She’s quick with a smile and a laugh. Easy to talk to and, with grace and ease, filled me in on where she’s been, what she’s done, and a little bit of what her life is like now. She’s delightful. It was such a pleasure to re-connect and to see flashes of those little girl expressions I knew a long time ago in her now adult face. It was such a relief to hear that things are good and how she’s persisted in life. I always wondered how she fared. And hoped that I helped some how in some little way in her journey. It’s nice to know, whether I did or not, that she’s on her two feet, a charming young woman with a life of her own.
Great story – it’s always nice to see what becomes of people, and lovely when they are doing well.
Nice to see you back on the blogs.
E