I'm Sorry, Okay?

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Added: Tue. Aug 18, 2009 8:03am
Posted in: Writing

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I’d like to say I’m sorry.  I know that it’s been 57 years and that we’re both grown-up now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to do the right thing. I’m sorry, okay?  You remember me, don’t you? I was the one who smacked you in the face. (Hey, I’m not proud of it now, but it happened.) You were a weird-looking little kid, did you know that? You wore an old leather pilot helmet hat (whatever it was called) with fogged-up goggles that flopped up and down on your forehead.  However, that is not why I hit you and I think you know that. We were both in first grade in Live Oak, Florida. It was a warm, sunny day and we were on the playground; it was recess. The bell rang for us to go back to our classrooms, but I wanted to prolong playtime; I wanted to stay outdoors. So, I hung my little white cotton sweater on the fence so I could ask the teacher to go back and get it when I got to my classroom – anything to stay outside longer. But, YOU spoiled it for me; you couldn’t just let it HANG there; you had to be Mr. goody-two-shoes. You ran up to me and handed it to me as you said, “You left your sweater.”  Me, being a not-so-dainty little southern belle, with long, stringy brown hair and sweat dripping in my eyes, grabbed the sweater from your hands and promptly let you have it right between the eyes, which wasn’t easy to do with those goggles hanging there.  I then marched back to the fence and re-hung the sweater. However, once I got to the hall near my classroom, I decided it was best to maybe not ask to go get it because I saw you and the principal  standing together and you were crying. You were also looking around so you could point to “the one” when you saw her.  I hurried up and got to my classroom where I promptly took my seat. I couldn’t believe my eyes about 10 minutes later – you and the principal were going room to room to find “that bad girl who hit you.”  Luckily, my seat was in the back of the room and you and the principal stayed up front (at least something was going right for me that day).  I scrunched as far down in my seat as I could, but, to this day,  I don’t know how you missed seeing me (maybe it was the goggles thing again and the fact that your head was probably hurting), but you did. For the last week of school, I had to avoid you and that caused me a lot of anxiety, and you need to accept responsibility for that. Anyway, I’m sorry. I hope you haven’t held a grudge; that’s really not healthy behavior. I also hope that you’ve gotten rid of that helmet hat and those goofy goggles. Have you ever thought about my feelings, for even just one moment?  I lost a perfectly good sweater because I was afraid to ever go claim it. This isn’t all about you, you know. Anyway, I’m sorry.