A Beautiful Cellphone-2

After the first half of the Boys Jr. Varsity game I headed to the new gym to watch the Girls Varsity take on the Ladies from Darrington.  This is a rebuilding year for the Orcas Ladies.  The season will provide lots of good character building experiences as they develop into a new team, under a new coaching staff.  As I was sitting there and the score continued to be lopsided, I was about to leave.  Suddenly, Anika Thomas comes down from the top of the grandstands and says hi.  Anika was in my classes for four years-and survived!  While others became attached to all the latest in devices of communication, for some reason Anika went without.  "Why do I need it," she would say when people asked.

As we talked, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.  It was beautiful.  It was shiney.  She had received a message and was returning the contact with a message of her own.  I couldn't resist teasing her, by remarking how she finally had a cell phone.  We continued to visit through most of the second half of the game and with a few seconds left I made my exit.

I  thought about Anika's cell phone.  I thought how excited the Jr. Varisty players were to be playing their first game.  I thought about how hard it would be for some of the Varsity players who would be part of a rebuilding year.  I  thought about the parents of the players on the home and visiting teams.  I  thought about all the students over the years I've watched play in differing sporting events.  I thought how they all move on past high school, into a world vastly different than their teen years.  How sooner than later they realize that what seems important now, is a fleeting experience as one grows and matures.  I thought how it's easy to discount what teens think is important just because I've moved on to other life experiences.  And then I thought again about the cell phone and how life is about connecting and working at connecting with fellow life learners.  I  thought about being sad that I haven't stayed connected with more of my students.  But how could I be sad when all of these students have engaged my mind with learning and building new relationships.  I could only be happy that they have gone on to be positive contributors to their communities, and continue touch the lives of people everyday.

So, what if Anika would not have come down and said, "hi?"  I would of missed more than the sight of her cell phone, I would have missed an opportunity to re-connect with a person who impacted my life.  I drove home with the rain pounding on my windshield.  I drove home remembering that the happiest people are the ones who work at having healthy relationships.  Don't believe that some contacts are insignificant encounters.  Believe that every hello was meant to be.  Be on the lookout for those opportunities, and then step down and say, "hi."

by raw