Suddenly, from the shadows, came a fork in the road... Part II

Please be sure and read Part I of this post before hand...

Obviously, my parents and I were deeply disturbed by what basically amounted to an attempt on my life. My parents gave it some deep consideration and actually asked me what I wanted to do. We mutually agreed that I would leave public school and begin attending a private school nearby. I remember it was just before the beginning of the last six weeks of school and I went to school one last week and very unceremoniously took my last round of tests and bid farewell to public school forever.

The difference between the two schools was night and day. The work was college-preparatory, and so was more challenging and engaging. Class sizes were much smaller, which provided more interaction with the teacher, and best of all, the other kids were nothing like their public school counterparts. For the first time in years, I was in an environment that accepted me for who I was, embraced and encouraged that. I remember how timid I had been on my first day, and how my classmates really had to coax me out of my shell.

As time went by in my new school, we continued to grow in size and every year would bring new faces to our class, though it never was large by any means. When I finally graduated in 1994, our class was the largest in school history... 30 kids. I still love to tell people that I graduated 13th in my high school class and listen to them go "Wowww that's great." and smile to myself since I know I barely cleared the 50th percentile. Not that I was a bad student. I just went to school with a bunch of friggin' geniuses.

But I digress, every once in a while I'd see a new face at school that I had seen in my old public school days. I remember very clearly the first day of 9th grade. The Vice Principal brought in a new kid whom I immediately recognized from my old school. He was a goofy kid, and he recognized me. We'll call him "Dennis." As soon as Dennis hit the door he saw me, grinned really big and took the empty seat next to me. He told me how bad things had gotten at the old schools and he didn't want to be a part of it anymore. I certainly didn't blame him. Dennis and I didn't really like the same kinds of things, so we didn't hang out all that much. I did consider him a friend though, especially since he's from my old hometown.

And, like it tends to do in all good stories, time passes...

Senior Year. In 5 years I'd gone from a shell of my former self to being active in all kinds of programs at school. Drama, Choir, scholastic competitions, and others. The gratification of entertaining people is something I've always enjoyed and I really started to cultivate that at my private school where I was allowed to be myself.

I've neglected to point out up to this point that this was a Christian school. I don't want to build that up as any big deal. I am a Christian, but I do not subscribe to any particular denomination (neither did the school itself) and I don't want to make the school sound like its special just because of its religious underpinnings.

That being said, as seniors, we were expected to be moral leaders to the rest of the student body which was comprised of kids in grades K through 12. Chapel services were held weekly on Wednesday afternoon and we were encouraged, as seniors, to get up and speak about whatever we felt lead to before the student body. One Wednesday, as I was reflecting upon the long, winding road, that had gotten me to that point in my life, I decided to share the story that I've just shared with you.

It had occurred to me that a key lesson in my experience is to be mindful of the things we say because the words that come out of our mouths can be just as hurtful as the rock that nearly killed me that spring day. I had a captive audience for my tale, and they listened and responded well to what I had to say, I was very pleased. But I had no idea what I was in for that afternoon.

The winding road was about to come full circle in a way that I could've never imagined.

The conclusion... later today.