When I started high school, I went to the school my mother thought would be best for me. My best friends went to another school. The selected school was fed by two very large local grade schools, so better than half of my class knew each other and had been friends for years. I was an outsider. I also was a closet illiterate and was hoping my inability to spell would go unnoticed. This was a great friendly school...unless you were on the outside looking in. It felt like there were two classes, the happy academy and a very unhappy outsider.
Two things happened - 1) Molly Moore befriended me. She was on the fringe of the in crowd and 2) basketball season arrived andI was a better player than many. While it was painful, I have always been happy for the experience since it made me more sensitive to those who are not "in". I was reading on Facebook this week how great my community is and that we all help each other. That is true if you are one of the 1/23 people who are connected. But what about the other 2000.
The feeling of the high school outsider was very real to me and again I felt that there must be a way to open the connective gates. The argument will be made that no one is keeping those who feel out from joining. But it is not easy to enter a room of friends and ask to join.
So for today a renewed commitment to compassion and inclusion and bringing the myth of the great community to be a reaity for more
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