Lead Kindly Light

We have the best neighbors ever. It just so happens that we attend the same church as them. Since the day we moved in they have been so kind and friendly. We are truly lucky. They happen to have a son that is a couple of years older than Bob. When Bob moved here he was a freshman in high school and the neighbor's son was a senior. The son was undoubtedly very popular and had a lot of friends. This made me nervous because Bob tends to latch onto people quickly and I have never wanted to have "that kid" that people have to tolerate. The son was always so nice and willing to help Bob get acclimated to the school. He even let Bob sit with them at lunch. We are truly grateful for this...we know it made Bob's transition to the school a little easier.

Once Bob feels he has a friend in place he will ultimately take advantage of that friendship. I don't feel it's intentional on his behalf, but still. One instance that made me want to crawl under a rock happened a few months before school was out. Since we and our neighbors attend the same church, Bob and their son would be at activity nights at the same time. Bob would always ride his bike over to the church while the son would drive. On one particular night the activity ran a little long and it became dark outside. Bob, having nerves of steel apparently, asked the neighbor's son to follow him home while he road his bike. The reason? Because there are a lot of cracks in the sidewalks. The headlights would help lead the way. Are you kidding me?? We don't live in Mayberry. There ARE street lights along the roads. Good grief. The visual in my head still makes me shudder. A tall, lanky, uncoordinated kid on his bike....riding SLOW....and the poor guy in the car following the kid on the bike, cursing under his breath and giving Bob the finger. Just goes to show how truly great our neighbors are. I'm sure their son could not move away to college fast enough! Hopefully there are no Bob's waiting in the wings for him there.