Chapter 4. A
lonely Child’s Scheme To Find Friends
Loneliness is not a stranger to
young children. I can still remember a deep longing to have a little
girlfriend to play with when I was 3 or 4 years old. We lived in the
country, too far to visit neighbors on my own, though a girl lived
only half a mile away. I was the baby in a family of six and my mother
spent a lot of time rocking me, singing old hymns and reciting poetry,
but I longed for a girl my age and even had dreams at night of finally
meeting her.
My brother Jimmy, already in
first grade, would practice reading aloud to me, and he said the first
thing he had to learn in school was how to read. Suddenly a light went
on in my head; I hatched a plan to go to school early, where I knew
there were plenty of little girls. I thought all I had to do was prove
I could read and the principal would have to accept me. So I prodded
Jimmy to read the first page over and over again until I’d memorized
it. It went something like this: See Dick run. Run, Dick, run. See
Spot jump. Jump, Spot, Jump.”(admittedly, the story didn’t have
much of a plot, but it was easy to memorize!.) Flushed with
excitement, I announced that I could go to school now because I knew
how to read! Mom listened while I held the book and repeated the words
I knew so well but she wasn’t convinced I could read because she
pointed out that I was holding the book upside down!
Finally the magical day arrived,
the first day of school. Although I was shy (and missed my mother) I
embraced the experience and played with a whole gaggle of girls, and
even a few snotty boys. It was heavenly!
I describe this type of
loneliness as “situational” because it is easily remedied by a
change in one’s life. Some of you may have this type, perhaps you’ve
lost a loved one or are tired of the single life. But search your
heart for other emotional problems such as depression because they
tend to hide themselves, and they must be dealt with or you can carry
negative feelings and fears into a new relationship.
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