Reggie's Journal
Entry #16
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Just when I think I can’t love Perry anymore than I do, he goes and
makes me love him even more and that isn’t possible. It’s almost 5 o'clock
Saturday, so I can’t write for long because I have to leave for the crisis
center soon. Okay. Here’s what happened. I was writing an outline for what
I’m going to write to finish up this journal for Friday. Mr. Byrd wrote on the
board our last prompt, only it wasn’t a prompt. Usually we don’t have to
answer it, and I don’t think I’ve answered it in weeks. Anyway, we have to
write a one page conclusion to this journal. He’s going to read it. We have to
tell him if writing this journal helped us in any way. He promised us he
wouldn’t read anything else because he’s already done weekly checks to
make sure we are doing it. I’m going to be doomed if he does read it,
although I think he may have already, but I’m not sure. I know he chuckled a
few times yesterday when I turned the pages. I think the one about his
nose hair really made him laugh, but he couldn’t do it out loud or someone
might have figured out that he was reading my journal. He’s the only one
who has seen the bold things I say just for him to read. So I’ve started
working on my conclusion a little bit because I really want a good grade out
of this. I think I’ve earned it. I’ve spent more time on this thing than
anything I’ve ever done. So I better get an A if you are reading this
Mr. Byrd.
Okay. Right. I was going to tell you about Perry. So I was lying on my
bed working on my outline and there was a knock on my door. I think it’s
Mom because her and dad always knock and wait for me to tell them to
come in. I think Dad told her it might not be a good idea to just walk in
because I’m a teenager and I might be doing something she wouldn’t want
to see me doing. Okay. Now I’m really embarrassed. I’d get up and check to
see how red my face is, but I have papers strewn all over my bed. So
anyway, I holler out to come in and it’s Perry. I was surprised because he
didn’t tell me he was coming over. So I quickly put my journal away because
I don’t want him to read it. He sits down beside me and asks me what I’m
doing and I tell him. He giggles and asks me if I wrote anything about him in
it, and I tell him if he’ll tell me if he wrote anything about me. He starts
stuttering really bad and then tells me that the last four or five entries
have been about me. So I told him I’d written a lot about him too. He asks
me what, and I tell him I can’t tell him. So he begs me to tell him, and I tell
him no. Then he asks me if he gives me a kiss will I tell him, and I say
‘maybe.’ So he leans in and kisses me. So we forget about our journals and
start really making out. I guess that’s what you call it. It’s the first time
we’ve really gone this far. So I lay back and he crawls on top of me and I
can feel Little Perry pressing against Little Reggie. Perry is moaning softly
into my mouth as we kiss. I’ve never really felt Little Perry before and it
seemed like the right time to do it, so I snake my hand between us and
wrap it around Little Perry. Perry moans even louder when I do it. I lifted
up a little when he started feeling for Little Reggie. So we’re really making
out and I’m starting to get afraid that I just might do IT in my sweat pants
if he keeps rubbing me. So I try to reach my hand into his sweat pants to
hold it for real, and he pushes my hand away and sits up. I started to panic
and I think I’ve probably gone too far and he’s gotten mad. But he started
stuttering really bad again and his face turned really red when he asked me
if it would be okay if we waited. I told him I didn’t think I could wait any
longer because I really wanted to do IT with him, but he asked me again if
we could wait. So I asked him why, and he turned all red again. It was so
cute. Then he told me he wanted to wait until we got to London to do IT. He
said he wanted his first time with me to be really special. He didn’t want his
first time to be a quickie in my bedroom with my parents downstairs. He
said he wanted to wait until we were naked in bed together so we could
really make love. That’s what he said- make love. All this time I’ve been
wanting to have sex with him. I think I would have done it in the bushes with
him if he asked me to. So we both started crying a little bit, and I told him
I would wait if he wanted to because I wanted our first time to be special
too. So we kissed some more. We even felt on each other, but not like the
first time. So now I can’t wait two weeks until we really make love. So I’m
not even going to think about having sex with Perry. He’s given me something
to really look forward to. I want to figure out a way to really make it
special. I wonder if Dad and Mom would order us a bottle of champagne
from room service? That would be really cool to make love to Perry for the
first time and then have a glass of champagne. But I know that won’t happen
because we’re only 16, and I could never ever tell them why I want a bottle
of champagne. So maybe I can buy a bottle of grape juice and pretend it’s
champagne. I really want to make it special for Perry because that’s what
he wants. I just hope he’s not disappointed because I’ve never done IT
before. Maybe I’ll talk to Abe and see if he has any ideas, although it really
didn’t turn out well for him when he did IT with Sarah. But I know one thing,
I’m not going to feel guilty afterwards because Perry and I really love each
other.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN LOVE WHEN YOU CAN’T FALL ASLEEP
BECAUSE REALITY IS FINALLY BETTER THAN YOUR DREAMS.
It’s late Saturday and I went to bed but got back up because I could
not fall asleep. I’m still kind of worried about meeting Jayson tomorrow. I
told Mrs. Armstrong about it, and she said that it might not have been wise
to agree to meet, that he should let professionals deal with his problems.
But I explained to her how his brother is my best friend at school and he
begged me to do it and I just couldn’t say no. Mavis also thought it was a
good idea. So Mrs. Armstrong talked to me for about an hour about things
I should say to Jayson. She used a lot of terms like she would with another
psychologist. I wanted to remind her that I was just a kid, but I didn’t. I
just hope that I’ll say the right things when I talk to Jayson. I hope I’m not
too intimidated by him since he’s really cute and athletic. I still don’t know
why he wants to talk to me anyways. I just hope I don’t say something that
messes him up even more than he is now.
Mom just came to the door and told me to go to sleep. So I’m going to
try. I’ll write what happens with Jayson tomorrow.
NO MATTER HOW LONG WE HAVE TRAVELED ON THE
WRONG ROAD, WE CAN ALWAYS TURN AROUND.
It’s Sunday night and I’m exhausted. I was with Jayson for about two
hours and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I’m kind of
proud of myself because I think I really helped him a little bit. Okay. Let
me explain what happened.
Cory came to get me around 1:30. I thought Jayson would be with him,
but he wasn’t. My mother cornered him in the kitchen and talked to him for
about 15 minutes. She really likes him because she knows he’s my best
friend at school and he helped me out when things were a little bad earlier.
So he gives me this pleading look which was so cute because I knew he
wanted to leave. I finally managed to pull him out of the kitchen and told
Mom I’d be back later. She already knew where I was going because I told
her about Jayson wanting to talk to me. She couldn’t understand why he
couldn’t come to the house and talk to me in my room, which I didn’t
understand either. I know I would have felt more comfortable, but it
actually turned out okay.
Before leaving, Cory told me to wear warm clothing and boots because
it was cold outside. I thought it was strange since I didn’t think it was really
that bad. So when we got in the car I asked Cory where Jayson was and he
told me he was taking me to meet him. So I asked him where, and he only
told me to wait and see. I started to get a little worried when he headed
out of town because I thought we’d be going back to his house to get
Jayson. We drove for about a half hour and I kept asking Cory where we
were going, but he wouldn’t tell me. We finally came to an old farm and Cory
drove down a dirt path that circled behind a dilapidated barn. If I hadn’t
been with Cory and trusted him, I would have been scared. So we keep
driving down the path and it’s really getting dangerous because of all the
potholes. Finally, I see a truck ahead. It has a trailer with two ATV’s on it.
Jayson was standing beside the truck waiting for us. So we get out and
Cory and Jayson take the ATV’s off the trailer. I keep watching Jayson to
see if he notices me, but he acts like he’s trying to ignore me. But when they
get them off, he climbs on a red one and Cory gets on the black one. Jayson
motions for me to get on the seat behind him. I look over at Cory and he
nods his head. Okay, now I’ve never been on an ATV, but I’ve seen them on
television and they seemed about the coolest thing in the world. But I’m
kind of scared to ride with Jayson because I don’t know him. But if Cory
says it’s okay, then I guess it is. So I climb on behind Jayson and he warns
me to hold on. I put my hands on his sides, but when he takes off I have to
wrap my arms around him so I don’t fall of. So we take off across a plowed
corn field and I can hear Cory behind us. I’m holding on to Jayson for dear
life and praying that he doesn’t hit a hole or something and throw us off
because we must be going over 50 miles an hour. I mean I’m only 16 and I
don’t want to die flying off the back of an ATV in the middle of a cornfield.
Anyway, we race Cory around the field. It was so cool. After a while, I’m
really laughing and having a good time...until. Until Jayson stopped, climbed
off and told me it was my turn to drive. I told him I didn’t want to, that I
was having fun doing what I was doing. But he gets in behind me and kind of
forces me into the driver’s seat. I keep insisting I don’t want to do it, and
then Cory starts calling me a chicken. So I tell him I’m not, and he says
“prove it.” So Jayson puts his arms around my waist and explains how to
drive it. I start out really really slow and Cory keeps telling me to drive
faster. My hands are shaking so bad I can hardly keep going straight, but
Jayson is telling me in my ear that I’m doing fine. So I start going faster
and after about 10 minutes I’m racing Cory through the cornfield. It was
the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Then Jayson points to an opening
in a nearby woods and tells me to follow the trail through it. So I do as he
says and we start slowly down the trail. When I turn to see where Cory is,
he isn’t behind us. Jayson tells me it’s okay, and to keep on the trail. So we
must have gone about a mile when we came to an opening where there was a
really pretty lake. Jayson motions for me to ride around the lake, so I do.
When we came to a clearing that looked like it might have been a small
beach at one time, he told me to stop. He climbed off the ATV and walked
over and stretched. I waited thinking he might have to pee or something,
but he told me to get off and he sat down on a log. I walked around
because I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do. I was getting kind of
scared because we were alone out in the middle of nowhere, but at least
Corey knew where we were, or I hoped he did. Jayson told me to come sit
beside him and I was kind of afraid when I did. We sat quietly for about 2
minutes before he finally said anything. I jumped when he suddenly said,
“Thanks.” So I thought he was talking about riding the ATV with him, but
then he sort of got tears in his eyes and thanked me for being there last
Saturday. I said it was okay, but he started crying and told me I’d really
saved his life. He said he wanted to die that night, and for a while he was
mad at me for calling for help. But he said now he’s glad I did. He even
leaned over and gave me a big hug which kind of made me nervous because
Jayson is a really hot guy and I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel with
him holding me, but it was nice though. I don’t know how to explain it, but I
felt kind of safe with him being so muscular. So he lets me go and we sit
quietly again for a few minutes. Then he asks me “how do I do it.” So I ask
him “how do I do what?” So he looks into my eyes and takes a deep breath.
Finally, he says, “Deal with being gay.”
Okay. So now I figure it’s taken him a lot of courage to say that
because he’s probably just outed himself to me. So I look out over the
water a minute before answering. I mean what can I say to make him feel
better about himself. So I look into his face and say, “It’s not that bad,
really. It’s okay to be gay.” So he sighs and says, “For you maybe.” So I ask
him what’s so bad about it. He looks at me and tears sort of appear in this
eyes. He then tells me about his father and how he’s completely turned his
back on him since he tried to kill himself. He said it was because of his
father that he wanted to kill himself last week. He said he just couldn’t live
up to his expectations anymore. He said he knew years ago that he was gay,
but he couldn’t admit it because he knew how his father would react if he
found out.
I asked him if his father knows he’s gay now, and he says he thinks so
because he told his mother and he’s sure she told him. He says he really
feels he disappointed him. So I don’t know where it came from, but I
started telling him he had to live for himself and not his father. He had to
make himself happy, not anyone else. I told him he had to be true to himself
and not live a lie. So he said it wasn’t that easy. So I told him it was. He kept
saying it wasn’t. Then I looked at him and said really forcefully, “You didn’t
want to live if you had to live a lie, right?” He started crying and admitted
it. So I said, “Then what do you have to lose?” So he started crying really
hard and grabbed me and pulled me into a really strong hug. I could hardly
breath but I didn’t want to say anything because I thought he really needed
someone to hug him. So after a few minutes, he sat back and asked me,
“What should I do?”
So I told him he had to face the fact he was gay. He said that the
therapists were helping him deal with that. I then told him he needed to
come out to his family. He said he already told his Mom and Cory. I was kind
of surprised because Cory hadn’t said anything about Jayson telling him he
was gay. But I knew Cory well enough to know that he wouldn’t do anything
like that. So I told him the hard part was over. He gave me a puzzled look
and I told him, “The people you love know.” So he started talking about his
father’s attitude, but I told him it would take time. He had to give him time
to adjust. Maybe he would, and maybe he wouldn’t, but I told him again he
had to live his life so that he could be happy, not his father. Besides, he was
a senior and he’d be leaving home to go to college in a few months anyway.
So then we talked about how my friends accepted it, and I told him they
were okay with me being gay. I told him how Cory was really supportive. He
started crying again and said that Cory was really helping him. He said he
felt really bad for the way he had treated him in the past. He made me
promise not to tell Cory, but he was going to give him the ATVs when he
went to college. He also told me he was going to tell Cory to bring me out to
the farm and let me ride anytime I wanted. So we talked a little more and I
told him that if his friends were really his friends, then they would accept
him being gay like my friends did. If they couldn’t, then they really weren’t
his friends to begin with. He agreed and said he was going to start by
telling Jeffrey first. He got really embarrassed when he said it, so I asked
him if he liked Jeffrey. He said, “Something like that.” So we talked a little
about how he should do it, so I told him to just be honest. If Jeffrey is his
friend, he’ll understand. So he asked, “What if he doesn’t?” So I again said,
“What do you have to lose? Either he’ll drop you as a friend, which means he
wasn’t a friend to begin with, or you’ll gain a really close friend because
you’ll be yourself with him.” So after a few minutes, he asked me if I had a
boyfriend, and I turned really red. He laughed and asked me who the lucky
boy was, so I told him a little bit about Perry. I told him about going to
London with him over the Christmas break. When I finished, he sat back and
laughed really loud. He then leaned over and gave me a really big hug. When
he finished, he said, “Dude, you should see the look on your face when you
talk about Perry. You’ve really given me hope that I can find someone like
him to love someday.” So I giggled and gave him a little push and told him
he’d better leave Perry alone. He laughed again and said, “If he loves you
half as much as you love him, I don’t think that would even be possible.” So
finally he stood and asked me if I was ready to go. Before we got on the
ATV, he gave me another really big hug. It kind of surprised me when he
kissed me on my cheek. I had to pull away because Little Reggie was
starting to wake up. I think he was beginning to realize I was alone with
probably one of the hottest guys on the planet, well except for Perry of
course.
Cory started grinning when he saw Jayson and me heading toward him
as he waited by the truck. I was driving and Jayson had his arms wrapped
around my waist. I didn’t say anything, but on the way back he once reached
down and gave Little Reggie a quick squeeze. Of course, Little Reggie woke
up and waited for him to do it again, but he didn’t. When we got off, Jayson
asked Cory for the keys to his car and he left after giving me and Cory a
big hug. Cory and I spent the rest of the afternoon racing around the
cornfield. So what I thought was going to be a very bad thing, turned out
instead to be one of the best days I’ve ever spent. When Cory brought me
home, I came upstairs, took a hot shower and slept for about three hours.
So now I have to call Perry and tell him about it. I hope Cory will take us
both riding someday. I’m sure he will if I ask him.
THE PERSON WHO REMOVES A MOUNTAIN
BEGINS BY CARRYING AWAY SMALL STONES.
It’s Monday night and I’m getting ready to go to bed, but I wanted to
write this down first. I’ve got the best grandmother in the world. I’ve
always known that, but tonight she showed me just how special she is. Okay,
here’s what happened. She came for dinner which isn’t unusual because Mom
invites her about once a week. So when we finish eating, I come back to my
room to finish some homework. Anyway, my grandmother knocks on my door.
She comes in and sits on the side of the bed and tells me to sit beside her.
Then she starts asking me about my boyfriend and why I haven’t let her
meet him. She joked and said he must be ugly, so I tell her how cute he is.
So then she tells me to call him because she wants to meet him. She wanted
to go get a banana split and she wanted him to join us. So I called him and he
asked his mother and she said he could.
As soon as he came running out of his house and jumped in the car, my
mother looked at me and wiggled her eyebrows and said loud enough for
him to hear, “He’s a cutie.” So I look in the backseat and Perry is turning a
bright red. It got even worse when we got to the Dairy Queen. She had him
sit beside her and she went on and on about how cute he was. He could
hardly get out a sentence without stuttering really badly because she kept
embarrassing him. She wanted to know how we met, so I told her about
sitting beside him on the bus. She also knew about Perry going with us to
London, so she suggested some places we might go since her and
granddaddy had been there before. Then she handed me an envelop and I
asked her what it was. She told me to open it, and when I did there was a
bunch of traveler’s checks. I asked her what it was for, and she told me
she wanted me and Perry to have a good time, but we weren’t to tell Mom
and Dad she had given us spending money as she called it. She told us to buy
whatever we wanted and to make sure we bought plenty of souvenirs. She
said she wanted us to have our own money so we wouldn’t have to ask Mom
and Dad for money all the time to do things. When I asked her how much
was in the envelop, she said $1500. Perry almost fell out of his seat. I told
her it was too much money, but she said it was expensive in London so we
would need it. She embarrassed me when she told me I had a cute
boyfriend and I should take good care of him. She even joked about us
having our own room at the hotel, but I quickly changed the subject before
she could embarrass us even more. So when we got up, we both gave her a
really big hug and she kissed us on our cheeks and told us to have fun in
London. After dropping Perry off, she kept kidding me about having a really
cute boyfriend. So yeah, I’ve got the greatest grandmother in the whole
wide world.
GRANDMOTHERS ARE MOMS WITH LOTS OF FROSTING
It’s Wednesday night and I’m still working on my conclusion to this
journal. It’s harder than I thought it would be because I’m really trying to
get an A on this thing. Mr. Byrd reminded us this morning that it will be 60%
of our grade. James tried to protest by saying that 60% is too much for
something he didn’t even read. He tried to get the rest of us to join in his
little protest, but I think everyone was too scared because we’re afraid if
we did it might affect our grade. I know I did. Besides, the only reason
James said anything is because he has only been writing a little bit each
week. Last week he said he only had about 2000 words in his journal. I hope
Mr. Byrd noticed I had over 7300 words two weeks ago. I really want a
good grade on this. Not because I need an A, I just think I’ve deserved one
because I’ve spent a lot of time on this thing.
I talked to Abe today in chemistry class while we were doing
experiments. I asked him if he still regretted having sex with Sarah. He
started to answer, then he looked at my face and I started turning red, so
he giggled and whispered in my ear, “Are you and Perry really going to do
it?” I turned away and pretended like I didn’t hear him, but then he said,
“I thought you guys were already doing it, but you wouldn’t tell me you
were.” So I asked him why he thought we were doing it, and he said,
“Reggie, everyone thinks you guys are doing it.” So I said, “What?” a little
louder than I should have because everyone looked over at our table. So I
sort of nervously ask him why everyone thinks that. So he says, “God,
Reggie. He practically sits in your lap when we eat lunch. And the way you
two are always looking at each other.” He giggled and said, “It’s actually
sickening sometimes. You two need to get a room.” So I hit him on his
shoulder. He acted like he was going to fall out of his seat. We laughed until
Mr. Archer came over and told us to settle down a little. But then he got all
low and whispered, “But you know what made me think you guys were doing
it?” I shook my head no, so he said, “Because you’re always finishing his
sentences.” So I go, “What?” And he says, “It’s really freaky. It’s like you
guys can read each other’s minds. It’s like you know what he’s going to say,
and you finish his sentence for him.” Okay, so now I feel some tears kind of
forming in my eyes, so I have to look away so Abe doesn’t see them. But
then he nudged me in my side and giggled, “You will tell me when you do it,
won’t you? You told me you would.” So I looked at him and kind of smiled a
little. I didn’t tell him I would because Perry might not like it. But I
probably won’t have to say anything anyway. When we come back from
London, I think everybody will be able to look at us and know we did IT.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I saw Jayson in the hall today. I was hurrying
to my third period class after walking Perry to Mr. Byrd’s class. I saw him
and another boy who I think is Jeffrey. They were walking really close
letting their shoulders touch like me and Perry do when we’re walking
together. Jayson sees me and smiles really big. He then gave me a thumbs
up, so I think things are working out better for him. I hope so.
THE BEST KIND OF FRIEND IS THE KIND YOU CAN SIT
ON A PORCH AND SWING WITH, NEVER SAY A WORD,
AND THEN WALK AWAY FEELING LIKE IT WAS THE
BEST CONVERSATION YOU EVER HAD.
It’s Thursday night and I’m going to be up late finishing this conclusion
for Mr. Byrd. I was working on it earlier, when Mom called me downstairs.
When I went down, Perry and his mom and dad were sitting around the
dining room table. I guess Mom and Mrs. Morgan wanted to finish
discussing the plans for the vacation. She gave my mom Perry’s passport
and birth certificate. She also had some kind of a legal document that
stated that Mom and Dad could act on their behalf in case he was injured.
That kind of scared me because I don’t want anything bad to happen to
Perry.
So we will leave Tuesday morning for New York. They decided since we
don’t have school Monday, Perry can spend Sunday night and Monday with
us. Since I only have a single bed, he’ll be sleeping on the sofa in the family
room. I considered telling them that I wouldn’t mind sharing my bed with
him, but I knew my face would turn a million shades of red if I did. Maybe
I’ll just talk to Mom alone Sunday afternoon before he gets here. I’ll try
to come up with some reasonable excuse. I could always say he might get
scared sleeping out in the family room by himself since it’s a strange house.
She just might buy it.
When we get to London, we’ll be staying in a really nice hotel. They
talked about the room Perry and I will share, and not once did they even
suggest that we might do IT since we’ll be alone. I think they already know
we’ll do IT, so no one wants to mention it. They told us we could go
sightseeing by ourselves, but we were to always stay together. I don’t think
they have to worry about that. If we do go out alone, we have to be back to
the hotel by 6 for dinner, and we’re not to go out afterwards unless we are
with Mom and Dad, which is fine with me since we have our own room and
can do whatever we want to do.
Perry and I are really excited about going. I’m so glad Mom asked him
to go. It’s like all my dreams have come true at one time. I used to sit alone
at my bedroom window watching for deer to appear in the backyard wishing
that someone someday would come into my life and love me. Then one day
Perry came into my life and....
TRUE LOVE STORIES NEVER HAVE ENDINGS...
5306
What I Learned from Writing This Journal
by Reggie Faulkner
When you assigned this, Mr. Byrd, I really hated the idea of writing a
journal. To me, it seemed like just more busy work. But as soon as I
started writing in it, something really strange occurred. It was as if I’d
found a friend, someone I could depend on. And the friend I found was me,
Reggie Faulkner. I was shy and introverted with no close friends. However,
writing in this journal allowed me to look deep inside myself. And you know
what? I really liked what I saw. This journal allowed me to admit to myself
things I might never have considered. I don’t want to go into detail because
it is personal; however, I think you already know what I’m talking about.
In seeing myself in a different light, it also allowed me to see others in
a different light too. And you know what? I found out just how much my
parents and grandmother love me. If I wasn’t writing it down, I may have
missed those simple little things. But when things got really bad for me, I
realized my Mom and Dad were really there for me. When I faced a
personal crisis, I turned to this journal and shared with it things I would
never have expressed to anyone else. But then, by putting it into
perspective, I could better understand that my problems really weren’t
insurmountable. I could depend on my parents for support. So I guess this
journal made me realize just how much I love them.
I also realized I had a lot of really good friends, friends I could trust.
When things got really bad, they didn’t turn their backs on me. I think by
sitting down at night and reevaluating what happened during the day made
me realize just how special a few of my friends became. I also found out
that I was no longer alone. Secrets in my life came out, and my friends
were there to support me.
There was also a really bad event that happened while I was keeping
this journal. I think by being able to turn to it and express my feelings
helped me deal better with it. It really helped me face the realities of life
and death by recording my feelings and then going back and reading how I
felt.
Keeping this journal also gave me confidence to face challenges. Some
were bad, but many were good. The best thing I realized was I was able to
accept myself, and it gave me the courage to think that just maybe
someone else might like me too. I found that special someone, and I think
you probably already know that.
Another very important lesson I learned was that life can be really
hard sometimes, and sometimes people need other people to help them find
the way. I realize that I can be that person. I learned that I can give good
advice and even a shoulder to cry on if they need it.
So I guess I grew up a lot as I wrote this journal. One thing it helped
me realize is that life is constantly changing- for the good and bad. But you
know what? Even during bad times, good times always come in the end. And
the most important thing I learned is you have to face challenges without
being afraid of the results. Sometimes I have to do things I don’t
necessarily want to do, but I do it because I know it is the right thing to do.
I also learned that life isn’t so bad after all. It can be fun, challenging and
exciting. So I guess that is a good lesson to learn for someone my age.
So I wasn’t going to say this because I didn’t want you to think I was
saying it to get a good grade, but thank you, Mr. Byrd. I guess you knew
what you were doing when you asked us to keep this journal. Years from
now when I go back and read what happened to me in high school, I’m going
to remember you as one of the best teachers I ever had.
Reggie Faulkner
The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.
Excellent journal, Reggie!
A+