• YOUR TRUE STORIES •

WORST ENEMY

Looking across the crowd at my 40th high-school reunion, I spotted walking my way one of the persons I really had not looked forward to seeing. He had been a tormenter, a teaser, a prankster who had made me feel miserable. He grinned, called out my name, and started talking about himself and asking questions of me as warmly as the exchanges with long-lost best friends. That’s when I realized he really hadn’t been among my worst enemies. For the teasing and taunting had prepared me for the rough patches in life that always arise. Without him, I would not have been as prepared for adversity. He was really among my best friends. I can’t wait to see him again.

—Greg Rohloff Amarillo, Texas

GRANDDAD’S TRUCK

I was four, out back playing in the humid Kentucky air. I saw my grandfather’s truck and thought, Granddad shouldn’t have to drive such an ugly truck. Then I spied a gallon of paint. Idea! I got a brush and painted white polka dots all over the truck. I was on the roof finishing the job when he walked up, looking as if he were in a trance. “Angela, that’s the prettiest truck I’ve ever seen!” Sometimes I think adults don’t stop to see things through a child’s eyes. He could have crushed me. Instead, he lifted my little soul.

—Angela Bradley-Autrey Deer Park, Washington