My Second Family

Helping a friend in need always feels rewarding, whether it’s with something small or something more difficult to solve. The thing about friends is that you have your ups and your downs, but when one of you has something that comes up, you both put your past issues behind and be there for each other. True friends are there for you when you need it most, no matter the circumstance.

It was 8:45 on a Sunday morning and I was going to be late to work on one of my first days. I grabbed my breakfast and ran out the door, praying I wouldn’t be too late. But I rushed too much and within a split second, the front end of my car had been demolished by a tree. It was just like a movie, where I looked away for a second, looked back up and didn’t have time to do anything but scream. I got out of my car and checked it out, hoping it wouldn’t be too damaged. But it was. It was completely totaled, and I was not going to make it to work.

Being in this new situation all by myself, I didn’t know what to do. So my first instinct was to call the person that I trust more than anyone else: my boyfriend. He lives less than ten minutes away from me and I trusted that he would be able to help me with what to do. I was so thankful when he picked up the phone because he usually sleeps in until around eleven o’clock or noon. I started the conversation with “I’m okay, but I just got into a car accident”, suddenly starting to cry. He replied, “Okay, I’ll be there soon. Have you called your dad yet?”. “No”, I answered. “Well call your dad, he needs to know. I have to get ready and I will be there as soon as I can. I love you, everything is going to be okay”, he said to me before he hung up.

I called my dad and after talking to him, he called the police for me and told me he would be there soon. My dad runs a travel softball program, and that day had happened to be the day for tryouts, so he was at Bucky’s Field next to the middle school, and was supposed to be there all day. It felt like it had been forever since I talked to my dad and boyfriend, and almost every car that passed by me stopped by to ask if I was okay and ask what happened. I was so embarrassed and scared, and I had a very hard time trying to hold back tears, which was not successful.

My dad was the first one to appear at the scene. Shortly after that, a police car arrived, followed by a fire truck, another police car, and an ambulance. My boyfriend arrived a little after the emergency personnel came. It made me feel so much better just to see him, and he just held me there as I was crying and assured me that everything would be okay.

After being told by the paramedics that I should be checked out in the emergency room, my dad and boyfriend drove to the Sabattus Credit Union so that my boyfriend was able to come with us. My boyfriend and dad were there with me in the emergency room for four to five hours, and it made me feel much better to have them both there, making me feel safe and secure.

Once my x-ray results came in, I was told by a nurse that I had broken my Fourth Metatarsal and would need to be casted for 4-6 weeks. The nurse put me in a splint for the time being and sent me on my way, advising me not to get it wet or put weight on it, because it would break. My dad drove us back to the credit union and told us that he had to go back to tryouts because he was supposed to be running it, which I was totally okay with. I was transferred into my boyfriend’s car and we went to his house for the remainder of the day.

Having a broken foot didn’t allow me to do much on my own, so one could imagine how much my boyfriend had to help out, and he was more than happy to do so. I helped him go through his clothes and get rid of old t-shirts that he didn’t need anymore, and we just hung out. Being with him allowed me take my mind off things for a while and I was really thankful for that. It was so amazing of him to give up his entire day just to be with me and comfort me, and that is exactly why I know I made a good choice when I decided to be his girlfriend.

A few years ago, I was in the second semester of my Freshman year. One night, my stepmom told me that one of the Sophomores needed help with Geometry, and his mom asked if it was possible for me to tutor him since I’m accelerated in math. I immediately agreed, I was happy to help him. He and I used to be really good friends when we were younger because our families would hang out a lot, but I didn’t remember the last time I had seen him or hung out with him, so I was a little nervous.

I went to his house once or twice a week, and it became a routine thing. Sometimes I would stay for five hours at a time, not that we were doing math the whole time, but it was nice to have that friendship back. We became really good friends again, and I was thankful. Once I helped him pass Geometry, we moved onto Algebra 2 together, going into the second semester of my Sophomore year and his Junior year. I had a lot of fun helping him out and I was a little sad once he passed Algebra 2 because then he was moving into Senior Math for the second semester or his Senior year, and I didn’t think he would need my help anymore. But he did. Most of the time it was just a matter of giving him a quick lesson to refresh his memory on certain things, and other times even I had a hard time figuring some things out. But we got through it together.

For many reasons, it paid off greatly to help my friend with math. One, I loved math, two, it filled up a lot of my free time which I wouldn’t have done anything with anyway, and three, it allowed him and I to become friends again. Even though he graduated last year, we still talk every once in a while and always talk about hanging out again because of how much we miss each other’s presence.

I am a firm believer in the saying that friends are the family you choose. They are the ones that you talk to when you know your family couldn’t possibly understand, and they are the ones that are there for you no matter what. And the best part is that they aren’t forced to be there, but they choose to be there because they believe in you and in what you stand for. I am so thankful for my friends.