Jamie waved good-bye as the moving truck pulled away, watching until it was nothing more than a tiny speck. He kicked the dirt with his shoe and grumbled, “Now what? Who’s going to walk to school with me and play ball during gym time?”

He trudged home begrudgingly. Then before even stepping on his front porch, Jamie yelled to his mother. “Mom! He’s officially gone. There went the best friend I’ll ever have.” He slammed the door and stood before her.

Jamie’s mother knew right away from the look on her son’s face and the exasperation in his voice that he was hurting. “Jamie,” she began, “I know you are sad to see Ben go. But Ben’s dad has a different job now and he will make more money. Their family is excited about this change for their lives. It could mean that Ben would be the first person in that family to go to college.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you. But what am I supposed to do without my friend?”

He retorted and abruptly left the room. Jamie’s mother called him to come back and talk more but he ignored her, sulking in his room.

Jamie’s next few days at school were tough. He kept looking at Ben’s empty desk, expecting to see him there. Worse than that was the day that the new kid came. His name was Bobby. The teacher gave Ben’s books to Bobby and then led him to Ben’s desk. Why did she do that? How could anyone take Ben’s place?

Jamie ran all the way from the school to his back door that afternoon. “Mom, you’ll never believe what my teacher did. She put the new boy in Ben’s desk right up front, like he is something special. He’s not Ben. He doesn’t deserve to sit there.”

Jamie’s mother answered thoughtfully. “Jamie, no one can ever take Ben’s place. But maybe Bobby can be a new friend. Why don’t you give him a chance?”

During gym class the next day, Jamie followed Bobby to the ball field. He tried to walk with him, calling, “Hey, Bobby! Wait up!” Bobby didn’t slow down, and Jamie had to run to catch up. He had to stand right in front of Bobby before he paid attention.

“I guess you don’t play ball, do you?” Jamie blurted out.

“Yes, I do. I’m a good catcher.”

Jamie noticed that Bobby’s speech was slow and labored and that he seemed to think about each word before saying it. But it didn’t matter to Jamie. He liked what Bobby said.

“Really? I’m the pitcher for our team. Come on, let’s play some catch.”

The boys walked side by side back to class. “I wish you lived close to me so we could throw balls after school every day,” Jamie commented. Bobby didn’t respond.

Saturday morning, Jamie’s mother fixed pancakes. As he swirled his last bite in the maple syrup, Jamie heard a loud noise in the street. Curious, he ran out on the front lawn just in time to see a moving truck pull in to what used to be Ben’s driveway. A boy jumped out of the front seat.

Bobby waved.
Jamie grinned.