Riley's Friends

This year Riley made a new friend.  As is typical with him, it is a girl in his class.  He sits next to her in reading/writing class in the afternoon.  Today, she told him that she wanted to take a break, and he is just crushed.  Riley can get really close to someone really fast and although, he does not tire of them, they sometimes tire of him.  This has happened a few times especially with his "girl" friends.  He has trouble playing with boys his age because he does not like the games that they play at school.  I keep telling him that eventually he will find his niche and find friends that share his common interests.  I also tell him that sometimes, he needs to play what other people want to play also; it can't be his choice all the time.  I hope that I am right, and his innocence and kindness will be returned by someone who understand him and will want to be his friend forever.

The Archery Barn

For the last three weeks Riley has spent two and a half hours a day, two days a week at the archery barn.  There was not enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to have a four week session of lesson so it was decided to offer open archery instead.  During open archery Riley has been one of only a handful of students there and the only one to go and stay the whole time during all of the sessions.  Because of the low numbers he did not have to wait his turn and could shoot as many rounds as he wanted.  His archery skills have improved a great deal during this time, and he is able to shoot four balloons with five arrows on a target 10 yards away.

At the end of open archery tonight Miss Ronda informed us that she would not be teaching the next session at the end of January.  She had taken a job in western Ohio.  Riley teared up automatically, gave Miss Ronda one last hug, and left the barn.  I couldn't blame him because I teared up also and am crying as I type this post.  I think he will miss her because she is what he knows.  He is not always sure and needs someone to guide him gently.  Miss Ronda took the time to do that so he trusts her.  I am thankful that Miss Ronda was Riley's first archery teacher because of her interest and knowledge of archery.  She has given him confidence in himself and his skills as an athlete.  We will continue to take classes at the archery barn as long as Riley is interested, and we will never forget Miss Ronda.  We are grateful that we had the opportunity to work with you for the time that we did.  We will miss you and wish you the best always!