Norton: My Most Rememberable Experience

           The day I met Breshard was late August. I had just started my junior year. I worked in a neighborhood burger joint called The Purple Cow. Although I wasn’t, on the schedule to work that night, me and one of my fellow employees, Christine, decided to eat dinner there that night because it was Bill’s (one of the managers) last day on the job. Bill just so happened to be training Breshard that night. So, Christine and I sat down at one of Bill’s tables, and he introduced us to Breshard, an African American newly high school graduate. After they went to get our drink orders, I distinctively remember saying “Christine, just you wait, Breshard is going to be my new best friend.” It’s weird how things work out because now, Breshard is new member to the Norton Family.

            After just a few shifts together, Breshard and I became really close friends. At first, we hung out outside of work with some other employees. We would all go bowling or go see a movie together. Then, Breshard and I started to hang out alone, and my friends would joke around saying we were in love and what not. That was never the case. Even before he lived with my family, Breshard thought of me as a little sister kind of figure. I started to learn about his emotional childhood and rough transition into adulthood, and I felt particularly blessed when Breshard opened up to me knowing I was one of the few people he shared this information with.

            It was a sad day when Breshard informed me that he had to quit Purple Cow. He was currently living with an older couple who he met doing Young Life at his high-school, but the couple was about to have a baby, and Breshard didn’t want to be an imposition to their new life. So when he told me he was going to quit and move in with his grandmother, I said I would ask my parents if he could live with us. His response was “Your parents are not going to let some random black guy live with you.” That night, I went home and asked them, and at first, they said no. However, I used their own morals against them, and they agreed to have dinner with Breshard and here him out. Now he lives with us, and my parents and sister love him like family, and he has had such a positive effect on all of our lives.

            This story really means a lot to me because 3 weeks before I met Breshard, one of my best friends had passed away in a car accident. It was kind of like God was giving me a sign, and I feel particularly blessed because Breshard has taught me how to appreciate life even when you have nothing to appreciate. Like the saying goes, one door closes and another one opens. I was living in this huge hole of sadness because I lost my best friend, and slowly but powerfully, Breshard helped me climb out. Meeting Breshard and dubbing him my best friend before I even knew him was a simple but huge moment in my life. It’s funny how you don’t know how one little moment can really change your life.