A Table of Love

Written by:
Katie Farmer

When I was a little girl at the age of five years old. I went to a really big school with many different groups: Sports Fanatics, Preps, Nerds, Gothics, Kids with Special Needs, and outcasts to name a few of them. I thought that having cliques was really silly. I thought to myself why can't I start a Table of Love. What would happen is everyone from the different groups all banded together. Of course me being really vocal in sharing my ideas the students who heard my idea just laughed at me.

So I decided to begin my own table of love. I started each day in the school lunchroom to scan the room and the first person I saw how sat alone no matter what group, race, culture or background they came from I sat with them. I would start talking to them. In 8th grade I met a girl her name was Stephanie. I saw she was sitting by herself so my being the new kid to the school I walked on over to sit with her. She was quite surprised I would do it.

She shared with me that the reason she sat by herself is because she was 6 feet tall and many people were intimidated by her tallness. They would run away from her. She also said she was a special needs student and many people called her mean names. She was shy at first but then began to open up to me in a way that no one ever did before. AS I shared my own story she found that we could really relate to one another.

As some other friends watched me sit with her they began to follow suit right after me, my friend Nick Goldey was the first one to join us at the table of love. He was outcasted because of his weight he was also a really big guy as well, then came another friend Jamie who was also a really big guy as well. tthis at first was ' the 8th grade table". But soon some 9th graders saw what we were doing and a bunch of them joined us. people from all different groups, backgrounds etc coming together. I ended up moving away my 9th grade year when my dad passed away from cancer. sad to say I didn't get to do the table of love my remaning high school years. I was dealing with moving back to a town I hated, and my dad's death on top of other things.
But I will tell you this because of the table of love my friend Stephanie (I am going to try and find her on facebook) we kept in touch for a long time even in the midst of the moves from 8th grade all the way until we were 25 and 26 years old. My other friends Nicky and Jamie I also hope to find on facebook and the bunch of 9th graders who joined us. By a little girl at just the age of 5 years old and in Kindergarten started the table of love by herself. She believed in her dream so much that even though the other students laughed at me eventually some other students joined me and followed suit. we had a big group of friendship and love. the most meaningful conversations. It all started when I began to start my own Table of Love.