Acts of Kindness: My Friend From Preschool

While I don’t possess an eidetic or photographic memory, my memory is better than most people’s. It’s good enough that I have a fairly decent recollection from my time as a preschooler. And today, I will be sharing some of my memories from that time period, or more specifically, about someone special from that time in my life.

As previously discussed in other posts, in some ways I was not your typical child so it is not surprising that I didn’t make friends at Alphabet Soup Preschool – at least not right away. The teachers were strict and the kids laughed at me because I had never heard of the food ‘worms ‘n’ dirt’ before (I know, I know, depressing stuff.). Initially, there was one kid I had as a friend because we already knew each other as our parents were friends. And then there was Beau.

The only physical characteristic I remember about Beau is that he had dark hair (he was also probably short because we were four and five years old!). I also have no idea what his last name is, if I’m even spelling his first name right, or what has become of him. But I do remember what matters the most; his character and friendship.

Beau would talk to me and play with me. Outside in the schoolyard, there was this gray, plastic castle structure that we played on until a bunch of boys came to kick me off because “no girls allowed.” Well, let’s just say Beau changed the rule and let me on. He would stick up for me when no one else, including myself, would. He and I became friends along with the other boy I knew and we had each other’s backs. And eventually, all of the other kids warmed up to me and we all became friends to. All was well.

But time passed and soon it was time for us four and five-year old’s to ‘graduate’ and enter our next stage of life; elementary school. And elementary school was a wonderful time in my life that I wouldn’t have had any other way, but those are stories for future posts.

Considering this was only a sendoff to kindergarten, the setup for it was pretty legit. I mean, we had a freakin’ stage. We’re all a bunch of little kids, seriously who does that? And of course, like any graduation, when our name was called, we had to go and walk across the stage to receive of diploma.

Now there are some important concepts to remember here; I was only four years old, slightly shy and in a roomful of people, and did not yet have experience with performing or doing anything in front of audience. So of course when my name was called, instead of walking across the stage, I just stood there, frozen and wishing all of these frightening strangers would quit staring at me. I was way too afraid to walk across that stage in front of all my classmates and their extremely tall parents I’d never met.

That is, until Beau (gosh I really hope I’ve been spelling his name right!) came to my rescue. He walked right over to me, grabbed my hand, and said to me, “Audrey you can do this!” And then, together, we walked across the stage to receive my diploma. Then after the ceremony all of us got balloons and of course I accidentally let go of mine and had to watch it float off into the distance. Upon seeing this, Beau promptly released his balloon which then led to the other kids releasing their’s too (sorry environment!). And that was the last time I ever saw Beau.

Sixteen years later, here I am, writing about some kid I only knew for a brief period of my life. And why? Because a kind act, no matter how simple or minuscule, should not be overlooked. Sure, the story is pretty silly, but Beau’s friendship and all of the kind things he did made the world to me as a four-year old girl. So my dear reader, when given the choice, choose to be kind. It will likely mean more to that person than you think, and it will be remembered. And if by chance, you’re out there Beau, thank you for being one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and I hope you are doing well (and I’m sorry if I’ve been misspelling your name!).

If you’re intrigued by this post and looking forward to what I’ll write about in the future, you can expect a new post every Saturday. Also, if you feel inclined, feel free to leave a comment below about what you think. Thanks for all your support and I hope you’ll come back next week. Stay Amazing!