I am sad. I saw my friend Zach today. I explained to him that there would be a change in our Wednesday's. His family is moving to the city which is a good thing and he will go to a wonderful school, and ....
He said he doesn't like change. I said, I understand. I am not fond of it either.
I picked him up and he showed me a construction site near his school. He had been there in the morning with his grandfather. We watched the ballet of the trucks. A woman came by and gave him a piece of bamboo to use as a flute. We went to the cupcake store and sat outside with a cupcake and milk. He asked if the cupcake would rot our brains. I said it was a special occasion, our last meeting for awhile, and so, our brains were safe. He asked if it was a holiday and then asked what a holiday is. I said, yes, it was a holiday and a holiday is when you eat a cupcake in the middle of the day.
We went to the playground. I saw how much he has changed in this year and when it was time to go, he climbed into the tunnel and didn't want to come out. He let me carry him to the car. I was surprised how much my heart hurt when I drove away. I love this little man, and though I will see him again, our paths diverge for awhile as his family settles into their new home and he goes to a new school. I thought of the change of seasons we've shared, the cycles of the moon. He commented today on the gift of the sun as we sat in shade. He touched the water of the fountain and enjoyed the umbrella of water the elephant sprays from his trunk. We went back over all we have shared and when I took him from the car he said he wanted me to know he was tired and I said, "Me, too."
I think Shakespeare was wrong in having Juliet say, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Even the eating of a cupcake doesn't make it sweet. It still hurts, and the tummy knows that something is not quite right in its secretions this night. They pour forth as tears.
