Sammy and Ilna, love you to the moon. REAL McRollers and Readers, thanks doesn't seem like enough, but thank you always.
One Friendship at a Time
One Month Ago
DJ sat cross-legged on the grass. His gaze flickered toward an empty area on the elementary school's playground, where he was watching Angie, Ashae and their friends play tag while they waited for Joseph to pick them up after school.
"Hey, Michael!" he called out, waving his best friend over. Michael jogged up to him. "What's up?" he asked, plopping down beside him.
"I was thinking," DJ began, thoughtfully, "I saw this thing on TV the other day…what if there was a friendship bench over there? Like a place for kids who want to play but don't have someone to play with, or just want to talk to someone but are shy or something."
Michael raised an eyebrow. "A bench? For friends?"
"Yeah. Kids can sit there, and other kids see them and ask them to play."
Michael's grin widened. "That's really cool. You have the best ideas."
"Thanks." DJ's eyes sparkled with excitement, his mind racing. "It could have bright colors and big letters that say 'Friendship' on it…"
"You gotta do it!" Michael jumped up, his enthusiasm contagious. "I'll totally help."
DJ nodded, his heart speeding up at the thought of transforming the empty space into something special. "I'll ask my grandpa to help us. We love doing projects together and he likes helping people. "Hey," he said, pointing to the playground. "There's Ms. Lane. Let's ask if she'll help us get the okay," he suggested, standing to head over to the beloved teacher.
Ms. Lane was enthusiastic as soon as they presented the idea. "A friendship bench? I love it, boys. We can make it part of our school kindness program," she said, her eyes sparkling. "And I'll have my class help you promote it."
"Really?" Michael asked.
"Absolutely." Ms. Lane said, clapping her hands together. "It'll be beautiful."
The boys exchanged excited glances, their idea taking shape. "I'm gonna ask my Grandpa, he'll help us build it," DJ said. "My mom and dad can email for permission if that's ok?"
"That's perfect," Joni Lane said with a smile for two of her favorite former students.
"Raw!" Michael said just as he heard his dad's voice, "Michael, let's go, kiddo!" from the car that had pulled up. "See you tomorrow," He told his best friend. "Great idea, DJ, and thanks, Ms. Lane!"
Five Days Later (Early Saturday morning)
DJ and Michael entered the schoolyard carrying supplies, excitement radiating from them. Joseph was close behind with a hand truck full of wood and paint which he placed under a large, shady monkeypod tree. "Ready to get to work?" he said with a wide smile, toolbox in hand.
"Yes!" DJ exclaimed, glancing at Michael, who was bouncing with energy.
"Let's do this," Joseph said, grinning. "Grab those boards, boys."
As they worked, the bench took shape. Several hours and a lunch break later, DJ and Michael dipped their brushes into the vibrant paint, carefully painting bright blues, yellows, and reds onto the wood.
"Hey, DJ, what if we paint a baseball on one side?" Michael suggested, his eyes lighting up.
"Yeah! And maybe some other games, too. And the word friendship." DJ paused, looking at the bench with a smile. "It'll be perfect."
"It will!" Michael laughed, slapping more paint onto the bench.
Two more hours and the bench was a riot of colors, the word 'Friendship' boldly across both sides. DJ wiped his brow, admiring their handiwork. "It looks awesome!"
"It does!" Michael agreed, stepping back.
"You did great work today," Joseph placed a hand on each boy's shoulder. "I'm proud of you two."
"Thanks, Coach Joseph," Michael said with a smile. "It was totally DJ's idea, though."
"And you said you'd help right away," DJ reminded him. "Team effort," he looked at Joseph. "Thanks to you, Grandpa, we got to build the bench instead of just asking the school to buy one."
"Teamwork makes the dream work," Joseph beamed proudly at the kids. "Now we just need to make it official."
Present Time
In the days that followed, the friendship bench became the center of a buzz of activity. DJ and Michael gave a talk to all the elementary schoolers and Ms. Lane's class made colorful flyers promoting the bench.
"DJ, this was one of your best ideas, ever," Michael said that afternoon, tossing a ball with him in the nearly empty elementary schoolyard. "I love seeing kids use it."
"Me too! It really helps everyone feel included," DJ replied, throwing the ball back to him.
As they tossed the ball back and forth, Angie ran up with Ashae, her cheeks flushed. "DJ, me and Ashae got an idea!"
"What's your idea?" Her brother asked, looking up to his mom who was trailing a few feet behind the seven year olds.
Angie grinned. "Can we plant some flowers by the bench?"
"That's actually a great idea. Mom, can you and Dad help?" DJ said, his mind already working on the details.
"Definitely," Catherine said with a soft smile. Her kids and their friends were growing up to be wonderful people.
Later that afternoon, Angie told Steve the plan the minute he entered the beach house. "We need some plants and a little help with planting them," her excitement bubbled over. "Ms. Raina and Mr. Justin said they'd get the plants and help and if you and Mommy help we can do it tomorrow, maybe!"
Steve chuckled and lifted her into a hug. "Sounds great. Good idea, baby girl. You know I can dig a pretty mean hole."
The next day, Steve, Catherine, both kids and Michael piled into the car and met Ashae and her parents at the bench.
"Look at all the plants!" Angie squealed, darting over to hug Ashae. "We're gonna make the bench look even prettier."
Once they had the plants unloaded, Michael's family arrived to help with a car load of perennials. Steve guided them as they dug holes and planted the flowers, Angie bouncing with excitement as she helped.
"Look, Daddy! We're planting the Ma'o hau hele!" she exclaimed, pushing dirt around the base of a hibiscus with her best friend and Michael's sisters.
"Great job, girls!" Steve praised.
As they worked, a few kids from school who came to use the playground wandered over, curious about the action.
"What's going on?" one boy asked, eyeing the bright flowers.
"This is the Friendship Bench and now it's a Friendship Garden," DJ announced. "Anyone can sit on the bench if they want to play or just to talk. And these plants will make it look even nicer."
A girl of about ten piped up, "Can I help?"
DJ nodded eagerly. "Sure! We can always use more hands."
Within a short time, a small group of kids had gathered, eager to help. Laughing and talking as they worked together, planting and offering their ideas about how to be better friends.
By the time the garden was planted, it was almost dusk and the visiting kids headed home while Steve and Catherine invited everyone back to the house for a barbeque.
The following Monday, while DJ and Michael were playing a game of catch, waiting for pickup and keeping an eye on their younger sisters, they noticed a new kid sitting on the bench.
"Look," DJ said, nodding toward the boy. "Let's ask him to play." They approached the bench, and he smiled warmly at the newcomer.
"Hey, hi! I'm DJ, and this is Michael. We go to the middle school. Want to play catch with us?"
The boy looked up with a huge smile. "Yeah! Thanks. I'm Leo, we just moved here from the Big Island."
As they played, DJ felt a swell of happiness. The bench was doing exactly what he hoped for.
The next day, DJ and Michael's teacher told the boys the middle school paper wanted to write a story on their project and the boys happily agreed, fist bumping each other as DJ said, "More people can find out about the Friendship Bench that way."
"Look how great your idea was," Michael exclaimed, bouncing on his heels.
When the pre-teen reporter arrived, DJ and Michael shared the story about the bench and the garden. "We wanted to create a place where everyone could feel safe and welcome," DJ explained.
"That's a great idea," she said, "Are lots of kids using it?"
"Kids are using it all the time," Michael added. "It's really cool to see people making friends…"
The article caught the attention of Oahu Today and when Catherine told DJ Tannis Good wanted to cover the story, he felt a rush of warmth. The simple idea had grown into something awesome and he was excited.
He was happy to talk to the reporter who'd covered several family events, starting with his official adoption day, with kindness and concern. He liked Ms. Good a lot, she was really nice. A week after being interviewed with Michael, Angie and Ashae, he climbed into Elizabeth's car at pick up to see his grandma beaming.
She held up a copy of Oahu Today, pointing to the headline in the "Out and About on Oahu" section. "Friendship Bench Blossoms into Friendship Garden and Brings Kids Together at Local School".
"Angie, look, it's us!" he exclaimed, pointing to the photo of himself, his sister and their best friends sitting on the bench.
"I'm so proud of you all," Elizabeth said. "It's what the bench and garden represent. Kindness, friendship, and inclusion. You took a wonderful idea and created something terrific together."
As they drove towards home, DJ smiled to himself. The friendship bench had become a place for kindness to bloom. And he knew, deep down, they'd made a difference … one friendship at a time.
# End thanks for reading!
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