Belonging

You know that feeling
Of being wanted?

That feeling of realizing,
it’s there I belong in.

I never realized
How valuable it truly is.

How much we take for granted,
Fitting in.

Yesterday I stood with friends,
My arms outstretched.
Together we formed a circle,
Yet it was only small at best.

But what it lacked in size
It made up for in meaning.

The smile of each of my boys—
There’s no greater feeling
Of knowing that together we were happy
That just being there for each other
Was enough to make us sappy.

One by one we each
Thanked the others for their time.
We thanked them for being
A part of each of our lives.

As we shared stories and laughs
Our circle got bigger.

Not one, not two.
But another group of boys joined hither.

So we started again,
expressing those thanks.
We repeated those same stories and laughs
with a magnitude more vast.

And slowly,
Our circle began to grow bigger.
People jumped in
Eager to share this moment of joy and gibber.

At this point my arms
Were more than outstretched.
Here I was hugging a brother
I had never even met!

But that feeling of belonging,
No, that never changed.
As our number grew from five to thirty
It felt even greater to stand in pain.

Because together,
Our laughter roared,
Connected in hand and in spirit
Forever more.

So we carried through the circle,
Each person finishing their thanks.

Then we looked at each other,
asking what happens next?

The reality is we all knew what to do.
Yet nobody stepped forward,
Scared speaking would cause them to lose
This belonging that they loved so dearly.

And I get it,
I do.
But it’s moments like this
That allow you to bloom.

So I stepped forward to give a speech
But really it was just my heart speaking through.

I said, I’m proud of each one of you.
Look at the person you’ve become.
Amazing in character, unique in form.

Thank you for us,
For the moments together.
No matter where we go,
We’ll remember us forever.

With that we rushed together
And started a chant.

I could feel the emotions swell up
As together we ran.

Someone led the chant screaming
SENIORS ON ME.
We followed suit,
screaming SENIORS on three.

And then we broke.
The circle ended.

Yet that feeling of belonging
Remains forever embedded.