We always thought we knew our daughter's friends. We were close with our daughter and she spoke of them daily. We knew about little riffs that occurred within their close little group and who was crushing on who. With 5 children, we've always led a very hectic life and though she would have them over on occassion, it was often too chaotic for company. When they did visit, they would retreat to her room which was the only place in the house they could get privacy. It was her senior year when different events such as Homecoming, Prom, Graduation, etc, really seemed to bring them around more. They were old enough to drive now and would pick her up and drop her back off, often talking a little with us here and there. But it wasn't until we realized we were moving out of the area that we really got to see what these kids were all about. We had been renting a large 3 bedroom home complete with a full unfinished basement storage space, which we fully utilized. I talked about our decision to move in previous blogs, so I won't go back into that in detail, but needless to say, the decision was made quickly and on an incredibly tight budget. We had a matter of days to get our stuff moved out and into storage and then clean the home. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. EVERYTHING had to be gone through. We had items belonging to 7 different people on top of furniture, dishes, toys, and a little of everything. We were moving with my husband's truck instead of renting a moving truck to save money. My mother in law was a tremendous help with my 4 year old, but our 1 year old was still nursing and very clingy to mama making it impossible to accomplish anything. We weren't going to make it out in time. That's when it happened. My daughter's friends, 1 by 1, started showing up and offering help. They knew our circumstances prevented us from being able to pay them and yet for several days they continued to come back. I don't mean they packed a box here and there or wiped a counter. I mean these 18-19 year old kids, who could have been out doing what they love, chose instead, to spend day after day of their last summer break before college, getting up early, packing and loading boxes, moving heavy furniture, and wiping down walls, without even being asked to. While they helped we got to talk with them more and ended up learning more about them in that week then we had in all 4 years they attended high school with our daughter. It was so easy to see why she loved them so dearly. They were funny, compassionate, and personable. They told us about their dreams and plans for the future. These weren't the lazy, entitled youth social media memes love to boast. We already knew they were good kids, but what we realized was they were so much more then that. They worked harder then most adults I know. They worked until late at night. They went home tired and sweaty, yet still showed back up the next day, still tired and sore. I truly don't know what we would have done without them. We were in such a hard spot, and their selfless gesture was so humbling. It deeply saddened me that we had missed out on so much time with these incredible young adults. It has become 1 of my deepest regrets that we missed out on so many opportunities and were now leaving. Every time I see a post on Facebook or a reference on tv referring to the integrity of today's youth, I think of them and smile because if they are a reflection of 'kids these days', I think we're gonna be alright.
Sincere thanks to my daughter Charity, and her friends Shiann, Dakota, Luke, and Brandon.
Photo Credit: Jayne Holbrook Butcher
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