It Got Better

(Photo by Jamee C on Flickr)

I changed my mind.

Those of you who know me well will be unsurprised to learn that my original plan to let our Mr. D and his school friend play together at school while we all tried to ignore the larger picture left a bad taste in my mouth. (If you're coming in late and feeling like you need the backstory, it's over here.)

"Would you like me to try to talk to your friends' parents?" I asked Mr. D, not really thinking it through, just wanting to make sure he felt supported. "I think I would like you to," he said after a pause. Gulp.

"Even if that ends up being like stirring up a hornet's nest?" I asked him.

"I think it would be worth it," he said solemnly. "Just in case it might help. Even if the odds are really bad, like a hundred to one." (Math boy strikes again.)

I had no idea what the odds were, but I could tell that our boy had some kind of faith in my ability to move mountains.

So I took myself over to the mountain... the home of his friend.

I aimed for after dinner, but before bedtime. When Mr. D's young friend came to the door, I told him I'd like to speak to his parents. He told me that his parents were praying. "That's fine," I said, "I can pray, too. I'll just wait right here."

So I prayed on the porch, and eventually the indoor praying was done and the friend's father came to the door.

I quietly explained the reason for my visit and wondered if the father might have any idea as to why Mr. D's friend would think they couldn't be friends any more. The father had a few ideas, but none of them really made any sense to either of us. "Let me talk to him," said the father. "I think this might be a misunderstanding."

"I can tell Mr. D that there's nothing to worry about?"

"Yes, of course," said the father.

So.

I came home and told this story. Mr. D's face shone with happiness. "A misunderstanding!" he exclaimed joyfully, as if it were his new favorite word. "Maybe it was the mom who thought we shouldn't be friends, but she only told my friend, and not the father," he mused.

We don't know. We may never know. But no one is crying themselves to sleep at our house tonight, and that is a very good thing.

(Thank you all
for your continuing kindness and wisdom.)

(PS: Do you know the superstition
that if you happen to glance at a clock
when it's 9:09 or 12:12, it's good luck?
Well, we happened to look at the clock today (10-10-10)
at 10:10am. Seems like a LOT of luck!)