Over the holidays, the parents went on a trip to Europe. The children stayed with their other parents. The child that is a high-school student decided to have a party at the house and invited a few friends over. In this day of instant communication, some of the “few friends” had invited a few more friends and soon there were over a hundred young people in the house and out on the street. They were quite loud. One of the neighbors called the police and the party broke up.
A few evenings ago, the high-school student (accompanied by his youngest siblings who wanted to hang out) knocked on our door. He had with him notes and plates of cookies. He apologized for the disturbance. He explained how the the party had gotten out of hand and seemed genuinely remorseful. We weren’t the only neighbors he was going to visit that evening.
His act of contrition helped restore my faith in his generation. Even though I am probably 40 years older than he is, I remember being his age. I would have been mortified if my mother had made me bake cookies, write a notes of apology and deliver both cookies and notes to my neighbors. He learned a valuable lesson. He learned we don’t live in the world in isolation. We need to be cognizant that often, our individual actions negatively impact our neighbors and when they do, those relationships need to be restored. He made a mistake, he owned up to it, and he made amends. I know many adults who could learn a valuable life lesson from this young man.
Thank you. And, thanks for the cookies.
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