Jeff

Most people are very uncomfortable getting to know a new person, let alone speaking up and initiating the conversation. You should really try it some time. You could be next to a person, that you should really get to know, and be enriched by knowing their history, and never even realize it. This is why you should reach out, and get to know someone like….

JEFF

Jeff used to love, listening to his parents talk about their past, and their lives before he came along. He would lay on the carpet, pulling one of the pillows down from the couch, and listen to their stories for hours. There was never a doubt, in his mind, whether or not his parents were happy and in love. John would sit, with a cup of coffee, and tell his son, about the day he met the love of his life...
It was John’s Sophomore year of college, and he was already running late to his first class of the year. He burst through the old wooden door, to the classroom, with just enough care, to not shatter the glass from the old frame. A quick scan of the room revealed one remaining desk, and he hurried to it, as the Literature Professor came through the doorway behind him. It wasn’t until he had stowed his backpack under his seat, with his notebook and pencil, at the ready on the desk top, that he took notice of the glow coming from in front of him. His seat happened to be next to the window, and as the sun came over the top of the hall across the quad, the light seamed to reflect, in the natural highlights, of the brunette, seated directly in front of him. It took everything he had, to keep from reaching out and running his fingers through that hair.
It took a week, for John to work up the courage, to greet that amazing brunette, that he sat behind for fifty minutes, three times a week, and it took another week, to find out that her name was Betsy. John was progressing nicely, taking only three months of stammering over his words, to finally ask Betsy out, but once they made it to that pizza parlor, it was obvious that they were meant to be together. Over a couple slices of sausage and mushroom pizza, and a soda, they discovered that they shared a similar major. While Betsy was aiming to be an English teacher, John was heading in the direction of an elementary education math teacher, two sides of the same coin.
Throughout their remaining years at school, John and Betsy shared many core education classes, which meant they spent most of their days together, whether in or out of class. The year following their graduation, they found themselves, as teachers, in rival school systems. Their classes may have been rivals, but John and Betsy were certainly not. Just two weeks after they concluded their first year of shaping young minds, they recited their vows, in front of friends and family.
Summers were amazing, not worrying about anything but spending time together. Whether it was curled up on the couch, reading a good book, or throwing the essentials into the back of their van and just driving, seeing where the road would take them this time.
It was five years into this wonderful existence, that they knew as their life, that John and Betsy welcomes their new traveling companion. Now, when they loaded up the van, their essentials took up a lot more room, between the car seat, diapers, and all of the items needed, to take care of their new son, Jeff, and to keep him occupied on the long drives.
Jeff realized how amazing of a childhood he had, once he started school, and compared notes with his classmates. Little Johnny had never been out of the state, while Missy had never been out of the city. Meanwhile, Just two months earlier, Jeff had been across the country, driving up the side of a mountain, with his family.
Jeff made sure, that he never took for granted, the upbringing that his parents gave him. He always had a duffel bag of books, ready to go, for the drive, to keep himself entertained. That was, until they reached new scenery. At that point, Jeff was glued to the windows, bouncing back and forth on the bench seat of the van, making sure he didn’t miss anything. When he reached the seventh grade, he joined the football team. Since his parents didn’t have to worry about a nine to five job, or working weekends, they were at every single one of his games. It was always reassuring, to look up into the crowd, and see his parents in their usual spots, at the top of the bleachers, leaning against the fencing that was the back of the stadium.
Again, his parents were staring back at him, as he gave the opening speech at his graduation ceremony, as the Salutatorian of his class. They were there, to escort him to his dorm room, on his first day of college, and they were there again, to listen to his graduation speech, from college, this time as the Valedictorian. Jeff owed his success, to the love and support from his parents, and he never took that for granted.
Ten years into his time at his agency, using the work ethic that his parents instilled in him, Jeff looks around his new office as the VP of Advertising. At the end of the day, he gets to drive to his beautiful home, that he recently purchased, down the street from the golf course, where he spends his Saturday mornings. While he has become a successful executive, with a beautiful house and a loving girlfriend, he still makes sure to check on his happily retired parents weekly, dropping in on them from time to time.
The first Friday, after Jeff’s father passed away, Betsy showed up to the restaurant, where she and John had enjoyed a peaceful breakfast together, every Friday, since their retirement, fifteen years earlier. She found Jeff, already waiting at the table, cup of coffee in hand, a cup of tea waiting at her place, for her. Since that day, Jeff has made sure his Friday morning schedule is always clear, so that he can return a small portion of the love and support, that his parents always gave to him.