Contemplations...

This afternoon on our way home from school... I saw some little kids wandering on the sidewalk, backpacks still on... I figured they were on their way home from school. That got me wondering about another little boy that my daughter and I used to see on our way out in the mornings... he'd be sitting (or standing) all alone on the corner, jacket on (usually) and his backpack sitting on the ground next to him.

He was always lost in his own little world... you could just tell. Sometimes he'd be dancing, sometimes he'd be staring up at the sky... other times he'd be aiming his hands at us like they were guns and blowing our car up as we went past. (I'd glance in the rear view mirror and see his arms up over his head like he'd just witnessed a huge explosion)

After the first half of the year, we started shooting back.

He'd see us coming and the "guns" would come out... we'd have our windows down on that side of the car and aim our "guns" (just our hands!) at him as we drove by... and the war would begin... sure, it was a war that lasted less than 30 seconds... but it was OURs! And as always, I'd glance in the rear view mirror, he'd be smirking as he watched us explode. (I'm guessing that in his mind, he always won our little gun-fight)

We never stopped to speak to him - never learned anything about him, other than the fact that he was always at his bus stop by 7:45am each morning.

This year, we don't see him. I wonder if he's just moved into high school and his bus stop time is different now, or if maybe he moved away... and then another thought came to mind.. he will never know that he brought joy into our lives every school morning with our little "wars", that even when we were grumpy when we left the house, we'd always be in a much better mood by the time we got to the end of the street becuase we got to see him (and fight! LOL).

We miss him.