Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nathan Brown
25 April 2017
Class Period
Never Forgotten
CH.1 Most people dont know what its like to constantly move around. Throughout my
childhood, my family moved 15 times in 20 years and the longest we ever stayed in one place
was eighteen months. I never had time to make long-lasting, meaningful friendships, but that
never seemed to matter to me when every school year it felt like there was a new city to explore.
My father was construction worker, a very stern man, and very straight to-the-point about
When we lived in Bellevue, Washington, I had a best friend, Jamie, that I was very close
with. She and I could never be separated, we did everything together. We would always work
together on projects, spend all hours after school together. We never fought, and if we did, it was
over some small, petty thing. We just clicked with each other, we knew what the other was
thinking, we told each other everything, we we truly best friends, however, because of my
familys normal life, it could come to what seemed like the end.
Jamie, I need to tell you something, I said to her, fighting back the tears that I knew
would come.
Whats wrong, Emma? It was evident that she was worried, her eyes were wide and
glossy, brows raised, the true expression of worry like that of a mother when her child is hurt.
Im moving.
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Jamies look changed from worry to flushed of all life, the color drained from her face
and her posture began to slouch. Her head fell, her eyes stared at the floor and her hand came to
Well you dont have to leave You can stay with us, we have an extra room, youll
She was already going through plans in her head to keep me with her, but the reality was
neither of our families would even think about allowing me to stay or her to go.
I cant stay. I was getting teary. She hugged me so tight I could feel my insides being
crushed.
Where are you going? Is it close? Can I visit a lot? she asked, with tears starting to roll
down her cheeks, she wiped them off with her jacket sleeve.
Were moving to Louisiana I dont think well be able to see each other often I
She looked down like she was about to start bawling, so I pulled her to me and gave her a
long hug. We comforted each other the best we could as we were both falling apart.
Our walk home that day was quieter than usual. Jamie and I lived on the same block so
wed always walk home together after school and usually we would talk about anything and
everything. This time it was quiet, Jamie held her head down and I looked straight forward, both
of us not saying anything. On the inside, I was feeling terrible, like I was falling apart. I knew by
Once we got to her house she just gave me a look of disappointment and hugged me for a
long time. She walked silently into her house and I stood there for what felt like a lifetime. I
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contemplated following Jamie in and trying to talk to her about it, I desperately wanted to tell her
how I really felt about this whole situation - that the last thing I wanted to do was leave her. It
was my fault for my best friends sadness and I wanted to fix that. It was then that I realized I
forgot to tell her when I was leaving. After a few minutes of thinking over my jumbled thoughts,
I started to walk home where I was met with my parents who were just about ready for dinner.
My dad made dinner that night, and we all sat as a family around the dinner table
discussing our days and other semantics. My older sister, Charlotte, talked about her friend
drama and how this person did this to that other person because of something someone told
them about this thing between her and this fourth person to My parents just smiled and
nodded pretending to listen and understand. When Charlotte was finally finished, my parents
I wanted to burst out saying they were ruining my friendship with Jamie, but I held it
I thought to myself, I wasnt fine, I was awful, it was their fault my friend was upset and
their fault I was emotional, it was their fault we had to leave and their fault my life was ruined.
Are you sure it was just fine Emma, nothing significant happened at all?
I gave a sigh, It was just fine until I told Jamie about us moving and she practically
broke down, we hardly talked the rest of the day. At this point I was getting worked up and it
Im sorry to hear that Em my mom paused for a moment and looked over at my dad,
she had a look in her eyes of what do I say? She turned to me again, But you know we have
I know. Its all about you and dad, where you get work, what you do, what this family
does revolves around you, I cut her off, why cant we just stay here? I said, getting up to go to
I ran to my room, slammed the door, and laid down on my bed to hide my crying.
~~~~~
CH.2 I woke up the next day feeling exhausted, my eyes were puffy and the bags under them
made me look deprived of all life. I just laid there in my bed until my parents came barging in
telling me to get up before youre late for school. I wasnt in the mood to talk to them because
of how they were ruining my life by taking me away from my friends, especially Jamie.
I got ready, sluggishly walking around and moving like I didnt care about anything (at
this point, I didnt). Usually Jamie would be already sitting on her porch waiting for me by the
time I had walked over, but today she was nowhere to be found. I rang her doorbell and waited.
There was no answer after a few minutes, so I just continued walking to school. I was met by my
other friends and classmates at the front entrance to the school and we walked to class together.
There was still no sign of Jamie. I tried to text her but I still was left with no response, I asked
other classmates and her friends if they knew what was up, but no one was able to give a solid
answer.
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Jamie was never late or absent from school, shed only be absent if it were serious or if
she were sick; and from yesterday, besides the obvious, she seemed fine.
I had to stop worrying so much, she was just probably running late or got food poisoning.
I went to first period homeroom and worked on homework for other classes to distract myself.
After fourth period I had lunch, I was walking to the cafeteria and I saw Jamie sitting alone in an
empty classroom, eating her lunch and reading a book from her favorite author, Stephen King.
She looked up from her book and gave a half smile, that smile someone give when they are sad
Where have you been all morning? I tried texting you and none of our friends knew
Im sorry, she said, I didnt really want to go to school with and be forced to be
around all these people like this. The idea of my best friend leaving is making me all moody, but
Im sorry.
Dont do that to me again. You think Im okay with this? I dont want to move and I
lashed out at my parents last night because of it. Im leaving next weekend, so we need to hang
And thats what we did, mostly every day. We were doing something up until the day I
left. There was nothing that could separate us, we would go to the mall or see a new movie, she
took me on a bike ride to our favorite places in the city like the Seattle Center, Pikes Place, and
the Glass Garden. Wed get lunch together most every day, no one could come between our last
This lasted almost two weeks from the time I had told her about me leaving and the day
My family was leaving for Louisiana on a Saturday. Jamie and I had hung out the Friday
night before, we had gone to see a movie based on one of her favorite books. After the movie, we
walked back to my house. We were chitchatting, laughing, talking gossip, the usual
middleschool girl talk. We were so happy, we almost forgot what was happening the next
morning. We got to my front porch and her demeanor changed, her laughing and smile stopped,
both of us changed in this way. We werent ready to have our friendship end like this. She gave
me a hug and I hugged back, her grip got so tight I felt like I was suffocating. She told me shed
~~~~~
CH.3 The morning of our move was very strange. I woke up around seven oclock to my dad
pulling into the driveway with a moving truck and my mom bringing boxes out to the yard. I
mulled out of bed and put on what few clothes I had that werent packed away, I put my hair in a
ponytail because I didnt want to deal with getting ready all that much. Just as I finished eating
some fruit, I heard my parents welcome Jamie as she was walking up to the front door. I ran over
and gave her a big hug, almost tackling her to the floor. Once we got our bearings straight again,
Can I help you move your stuff into the truck, or is there anything else you need, Em?
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She gave a little laugh before heading upstairs to move boxes from my room. All
morning we worked on packing up the remainder of my things in boxes, we found old pictures
and knick knacks from things wed done together through the years weve been friends and
I was digging through a pile of junk from my closet separating trash from stuff I wanted
to keep, I had found an old picture of Jamie and I at the county fair. We were standing in front of
the Ferris Wheel holding cotton candy bigger than our heads with huge smiles on our faces. I
smiled while looking over the picture, reminiscing over our friendship.
Hey Jamie, remember this, when we were messy little kids. I said with a little grin.
Haha, yeah I remember that day, she replied with a smile, my face was all sticky from
This remembering our friendship and the good times we had brought a somber feeling
over the room because of our realization that it would all come to an end today.
My room was the last with anything in it, Jamie and I finished packing everything in a
few hours and moved all the boxes down to the lawn for my parents to load in the truck. We sat
on the porch together and talked about how we would call each other every night and send each
other post cards. Talking about this somehow relieved the pain of knowing that there was a good
chance we wouldnt see each other in person for a very long time, if ever.
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After a little while of sitting and talking, my parents yelled over to us that it was about
time for us to get going. I gave Jamie a hug, tears running down my face, I dug my face into her
shoulder.
Promise well call each other every day and see each other over summers? I asked her
in a broken and choppy sentence. I promise, she replied, promise me youll call me when you
get to your new house and tell me all about it and your new friends and whats down there?
~~~~~
CH.4 Our daily talking only lasted few months. Despite what I badly wanted, I knew it
wouldnt last very long. Eventually our daily chats were every few days, then every weekend,
every other weekend until eventually it seems like we lost interest in trying all all together. It
wasnt until after college when I moved back to the Seattle area that we would see each other
again. When we got together again, it was just like we were kids again, we started talking about
everything that happened in the time Id been gone. The thing I couldnt most wrap my head
around was the fact that even though we had stopped talking and we hadnt kept our promises to
each other, we were still friends. We continued our friendship as if it had never been interrupted
by my leaving.
Those years when we werent talking, the years of me continuing to move around, I
forgot about our friendship more and more. Making a new life every time I moved, new places,
and new friends, it all made me slowly forget. And Im sure she did too. What two people could
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possibly keep a consistent and connected friendship going when you dont see each other
regularly for six-plus years, while there are thousands of miles between you? The fact that we
were able to pick up right where we left off amazes me, and I couldnt be more thankful for our
friendship.
Now, both of us out of school and starting our new lives in the real world out of college,
we still talk and see each other every week. We plan to go on a summer trip together, weve even
talked about weddings and all the cliche stuff people do in movies. No matter what we plan or
say what we want to do together, Im just glad we hadnt forgotten each other in those years we
were apart.