If you've spent any amount of time around Larkin over the last few months then you've definitely heard her talk about her friend Campbell. Campbell was in Larkin's pre-k class and the two were inseparable. At drop-off in the mornings one would always wait for the other to arrive, and at pick-up in the afternoon they always wanted to walk out together. During class they played with each other so much that even other kids noticed and would greet us in the morning with something along the lines of, "Hey Larkin! Campbell's on the tire swing waiting for you!"
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| Western day at school. Campbell is on the far right |
When they got together outside of class they would just talk talk talk. Poor Willa tried to join in but just couldn't keep up with their conversations since a lot of what they talked about was what happened in their class. One day Willa said, "I wish I were Campbell so Larkin would like me as much as she likes Campbell." Ouch!!
Larkin came home from school one day and said, "Mom, I have terrible news. Campbell told me that she is moving to California and she was really excited about it. I told her that it was exciting, but really, I was just sad." As the moving date grew closer, Larkin became more and more depressed. One day I picked up Larkin from school and her teachers were concerned because she was mopey and quiet all day and they thought that she was coming down with something. I told them that she wasn't sick--she was just heartbroken!
For our last playdate with Campbell I took all the girls to a park and then to an ice cream shop. When we dropped off Campbell that afternoon we saw the huge moving truck in the driveway. It all hit Larkin then and she struggled to say goodbye to her, even though she was going to see her again one more time at school. As we drove off she sobbed the most heart wrenching tears, and she refused to eat dinner that night.
The next school day was Campbell's last day, but Larkin said she didn't want to go to school because she was just too sad. It was the only day all year that she didn't want to go to school--every school morning she just can't get there fast enough. I knew that if she went to school she would cry and be sad all day, and thought it'd be better that we just skip school and have her last memories of Campbell be of the fun times at the ice cream shop.
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| Crazy hair day AND ice cream! |
It's been a few weeks now since Campbell moved, and Larkin still gets sad about her periodically. When you ask her what's wrong she frowns and makes the letter "C" with her hand (for Campbell).
She's realized though how rewarding a friendship can be. The other day she said, "Mom, when I go to kindergarten will I meet another friend like Campbell?" I told her that she would make another good friend for sure, and she replied, "Well then I can't wait for kindergarten!"
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