Katie, Bill, Theresa, and Jonathan

It was one of those mornings. You know the kind. The day before you are supposed to leave for vacation, too many errands to run, no food in the house, so off to breakfast we went. That was where we met these lovely couples, and learned the tale of…

KATIE, BILL, THERESA, and JONATHAN

It’s amazing the friendships that can form on an elementary school playground. Bill and Jonathan went all of the way back to Kindergarten. It started with a great game of tag, and only got better from there. As they left school that day, Mothers waiting on the sidewalk to walk them home, they discovered that they only lived a couple blocks away from each other. From that day on, they were inseparable. They spent Monday through Friday sitting by each other, doing classroom activities together, and chasing each other at recess, during their half days at Kindergarten. Then they would go home, have lunch, and bug their parents until they let one of them walk to the other’s house, spending the rest of the evening and the weekends with each other. The two might as well have been brothers, and were probably closer than if they had been.
Now, you would think, in third grade, when this cute little brunette, in a white tank top and blue mini skirt, asked Jonathan to push her on the swing, that it may have caused an issue or created some waves between the boys. This couldn’t have been further from what actually happened. In fact, there wasn’t even a ripple in the friendship. Katie slid into the group like she had been there from day one. It didn’t matter that she was a girl, or that they were boys. They always made sure that everyone was included, whether it was wrestling in the mud or a tea party in the back yard.
This would be how the friendship continued for years to come, growing as the children did, into high school and young adults. Other friends came and went, fading into casual friends, but no one was able to match the connection of the original trio. Katie always joked that she never needed to date, as the last thing she needed in her life was another guy.
Occasionally, one of the boys would have a family event, and wouldn’t be able to hang out. It was during these times, sitting alone, next to Katie in the movie theater, or across the table sharing a pizza, that they started to realize exactly how beautiful she was growing up to be, without them even having noticed. The effects started becoming more obvious, Bill started holding the door for Katie, Jonathan started offering to pay for her movie ticket. Slowly, the dynamic of the group started to shift, becoming more of a competition for Katie’s attention and silently hoping that the other boy would have plans elsewhere. If you paid close attention, you could catch just the corner of Katie’s mouth turning up into a smile, when she would catch one of the boys staring at her, out of the corner of her eye.
It was the beginning of their Senior year of high school, as things were starting to build to a head, and Katie was going to soon have to choose between her best friends, Bill or Jonathan, or risk losing both of them, that fate decided to step in, saving the boys twelve year friendship. It couldn’t have been more perfect, if it had been a scene in a John Hughes film. There she was, standing at the front of Mrs. Brewer’s second period Calculus class, waiting to be introduced, when she locked eyes with Jonathan. Theresa had just moved to town, to finish out her Senior year, her Dad having been stationed at the local Naval base. Of course, Jonathan didn’t hear anything that was said after her name, at least until Mrs. Brewer told Theresa to take the extra desk directly next to him. Everything just fell into place, from that day on. Jonathan and Theresa were inseparable, and Katie and Bill naturally transitioned their deep friendship into a new relationship.
During their Sophomore year in college, Jonathan asked Theresa to be his wife, with Bill, following a year later, asking Katie. The group’s friendship never diminished, with Katie and Theresa working in the same hospital as nurses, and Bill and Jonathan opening their own accounting firm together. Of course, they are all now enjoying their retirement, and you can find them sharing a meal, or even just drinks, at a table in any one of the diners or restaurants in town.