Flashbacks

While walking my twelve laps today, I was joined by a PE class or two from the intermediate school across from the track. In case you are wondering, on base, the elementary school would be K-3, and intermediate school is 4-6, I believe. Something like that... anyhow, I watched first the boys run as fast as they could across the field and then the girls do the same, the coach noting the fastest each time. They, then, had to see how many laps they could run/walk in 9 minutes. I was walking longe enough to encounter two different PE classes. The teacher actually commented, "You're still here?!" with a look of disbelief when he returned with the second class. Hey, I walked 12 laps. It takes a little time.

Anyways, it was this second class that caused a bit of a flashback to my elementary school days. I was on my 8th or 9th lap and was slowly coming upon 3 girls and a boy walking together. I was not eavesdropping on them. I was merely in close enough proximity that my ears couldn't be stopped from hearing their conversation. In confidence of the other three kids, one girl stated that a classmate claimed to be her "best friend" but was walking with someone else. She then went on saying that "if she was really my best friend, she would be walking with me because that is what best friends do- they do everything together..". Then, a second girl came to the classmates defense, claiming they were friends and she didn't want to talk about her behind her back. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I pulled ahead of this little gang of conspirators. I, then, heard the boy claim he had a HUGE secret and went on to make them swear of their friendship to him so they were bound by secrecy and friendship to keep this to themselves. I just happened to reach the point where my ear could no longer pick up their little voices so I never heard what this terrible, terrible secret was. Good thing, too, since I never swore my friendship to the little guy. I just might have told someone...

All the whilst this was ensuing, I flashed back to my old days of walking around the playground with my best friends, gossiping about who liked who, who did what to get in trouble, how mean so and so was or how the new guy was sooooo cute. It's such a funny age to be, trying to establish friendships and trying to be your own person, and not just another little face in the classroom.

Aah, the old days..