An old friend...

When I was a child, I could be very shy. I remember being afraid of adults except for those that were very close to my family.

Before I began first grade my parents purchased their first house. That meant a new school for me. I don't remember how I felt about this change but I do remember that I absolutely hated first grade.

I was terrified of my teacher even though she was very nice and I don't remember having a single friend to play with that year.

There was one saving grace. Her name was Ruby. She was one of the lunch ladies and she would come talk to me during lunch after all the kids had been served.

I looked forward to seeing her everyday.

Second grade was much better. I loved my teacher and I became friends with a girl with very curly hair named Erica. To this day she is still one of my best friends.

Then of course third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades came and went. I'd see Ruby everyday in the lunchroom. Never once did I care if the other kids saw me talking to the "lunch lady" or giving her a hug.

Then came Junior High and High School. I saw Ruby once in a great while at a store in town but that was about it.

A few years after graduation, I was working at a CBRF (Community Based Residential Facility) taking care the elderly. A new woman began working there and she happened to be Ruby's daughter. She gave me updates on her mom, who was doing very well, and I loved working with her.

In 2003, when Brad and I were married, Ruby came to our reception. She got us a toaster. We still have it.

Now it's 2010 and I'd been wondering about Ruby. If she was still around here and if she was still alive. That may sound kind of harsh to say but she was probably in her sixties when she was working for the school and it's been about twenty three years since I was in first grade.

I got my answer today though.

I was walking through Walmart and I saw two women pushing a cart in my direction. It was Ruby and her daughter. They both look exactly the same as when I last saw them and Ruby, bless her heart, is still as sharp as a tack.

I told her that I have three children and she said she did too. She asked about their genders and when I replied two girls and boy, she nodded and said she did too. I only wish that I would have had my kids with me so that they could have met her. Maybe next time.

She is such a wonderful person. So kind, so sweet, so caring. I'm so very grateful to have had her in my life.