Casual (?) Friday
Pizza and chocolate milk. If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, the boyhood version must be pizza and chocolate milk. The Brady Street Dominos opens at 10:00 a.m., so the order is placed for pick-up at 11:10. Half cheese, half cheese and sausage. Pick up the pizza, grab some chocolate milk at the convenience store and make it to J.B. Young by 11:15 for a Big Brothers lunch with X.
X is the first letter of his first name, and that’s about all I care to share about his identity. He’s a bright young kid, very pleasant and polite. I was told he was supposed to be shy, but I haven’t seen it. The upgraded lunch menu (mothers everywhere cringing) cements friendship, and we have an easy rapport. He’s proud to tell me he has learned his “times”, all the way to 12 X 12. I test his knowledge and dole out accolades, and then teach him the trick of figuring out nine times whatever, where you subtract the whatever from ten times to get the right number. He’s duly impressed.
Some peers sometimes aren’t, as I skip the free Friday government lunch meeting circuit to be more directly involved with the future of Davenport. For several years I’ve been a lunch buddy on Fridays at Lincoln and now J.B. Young. X is my third “little”, and I’ve hit the jackpot this round. Bright and cheerful, he’s a delightful kid who could just use a little extra help. My first two littles both moved away, part of the unrooted lives they were (likely still are) living. As J moved to Peoria, I gave him a letter on official City letterhead, with my cell phone number. He was older than X, so the letter read as follows:
Dear J:
I’ve enjoyed being your lunch buddy and will miss our time together on Fridays.
I hope you are excited about moving to Peoria. I’m sure you’ll make friends quickly and will have a great life there. You are a very bright young man and I want you to know that you can grow up to achieve all of your dreams.
Be sure to pay attention in class, and do all your homework. It may not seem important on any given day, and you may get bored at times, but it is so important to be a good student. You are a very smart young man, and with the good grades you are capable of achieving, you can go anywhere in life, and achieve anything. You may not get along with every teacher and there will be some classes you don’t like, but do not ever give up on school. Take the most difficult classes you can take in high school, and you’ll be ready for college.
Do all that you can to go to college. Keep your grades up. Apply for scholarships. Take out student loans. Get a part-time job to help pay for college. Join ROTC. College is the door through which everything is possible. Do not ever give up on going to college and do not let anyone talk you out of going, or tell you that you can’t go. You absolutely can, and if you set your mind to it, you will.
Stay away from troublemakers in school. They aren’t cool, they are not going anywhere in life, and they’ll only cause you trouble. Stick with sports and afterschool clubs instead. You’ll form lifelong friendships with your teammates, and get stronger in body and mind.
Good luck with girls, and stay even farther away from girl troublemakers than boy troublemakers.
If I can ever help with anything, call me.
Thanks again for being my lunch buddy,
J is out in the world, with a fading letter and some fond memories of Davenport, I hope. X is learning his times, and learning Davenport cares about his future. That’s my not so casual Friday hope.
Big Brothers Big Sisters can always use more Bigs. Give them a call at 323-8006.
