THREE FRIENDS
Once three friends
Sweet in sadness
Now part of their past
In the end
Full of gladness
This is a picture story of three friends, Solomon, Sebastian and Jake. They met in kindergarten at the Alan Howard Waldorf School, now known simply as the Waldorf Academy.
Friends. There's got to be something special going on when you're hanging out at seventeen with the same guys you were when you were six. This requires some kind of magic. Boys to men, no blinking allowed.
And suddenly (or not) these boys are going to university. I know it's a cliché, but it feels like yesterday we were planning play dates and birthday parties, school plays and camping trips in mosquito infested fields.
They grew up, started shaving, studied like we asked them to. Is high school really almost over? Already? And now here we are, one final lap before we send them off.
University. The word sounds all grown up. They are grown up, well almost. Almost.
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The University of Waterloo is a short 1-1/4 hour drive from Toronto. The familiar threesome gather in two cars along with myself and a couple of moms. It's time to go for a drive and get a tour. It's time to see what a real school looks like.
Calm and collected. They're playing it cool. But honestly, where is everyone? It feels like a ghost town today. It must be the football game down the road with the Golden Hawks of Wilfred Laurier vs. Waterloo's Warrior's. Or maybe everyone's studying ;)
We talk with our guide about co-op and work load, school food and sports. Even safe spaces and trigger warnings find their way into the conversation. This is 2016 after all.
It's unlikely all three friends will be going to the same university. Does it matter? New friendships will be made and lost. I'd like to think that these three will be hanging out together a very, very long time. What they have runs deep. My favourite writer when I was their age, Robertson Davies comes to mind... what they have is "bred in the bone". These three friendships will endure.
The bell rings
And all things
Are calling
The days past
The play's cast
Remember
September
When we were
Together
Together
Together
Gentle Gian - Schooldays - 1972