He captured my attention when we were much younger. Somehow my friends and I always used to convince him to play with us outside during recess. That was probably the only time we really interacted, besides passing each other in the hall. He was a fifth grader. I was in fourth, but my little heart looked up to this boy.

We were friends and that was exciting to me. In a funny elementary school sort of way, the crush carried on for a while. We would talk on the phone at night, and surprisingly, I was ok with my mom holding the phone for me. Of course, I’d go in her room and close the door because I didn’t want my brothers listening or interfering with the conversation.

I even remember exchanging gifts for Christmas and Valentine’s day. Yep, I was enjoying this friendship with a boy. The only trouble was his mom worked at our school. I would feel awkward knowing this fact and I later wondered how much she encouraged him to give me special attention that year.

He eventually graduated and moved up to middle school. This was back when there was no social media or cell phones. Getting on the internet was a big deal because it would take a while to dial up the connection.

I’m sure we had each others phone numbers, but at that age, I guess we just knew to move on quickly. Focus on the friends who are left, the ones still actively in your life and the ones who will stick with you longer than one season of a year.

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Today’s word was “capture” and I didn’t know where to go with it. At least my topic is freedom and I can let my words carry me to years past. Read the other #write31days posts here.