Lunch is for companionship

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some I learned in school and through expereince. Many of them I learned from my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe that there are many things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So here it is. A year's worth of tiny words of wisdom for all of the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. They may not work for everyone and you may not agree with all of them, but each one is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

#12 Don't let anyone sit alone at a lunch table

Before my first day of school, every year, my mom would say: "Shanna, you make friends very easily, but some people don't. If you see someone sitting alone at lunch, ask them to join you. Or go and sit with them."
In elementary school, this was never really an issue, because we sat at long picnic like tables that folded in the middle. Boys at one and girls at another. No one really had the opportunity to be left out, so I never really understood.
However, on the first day of middle school, I got it. I thanked God that I had some of my friends from the 6th grade there when it came time for lunch. I walked into the cafeteria and I was completely overwhelmed. I had two of my friends with me, and we were trying to decide where to sit. Should we try to sit with the cheerleaders, even though we didn't make the squad? Should we sit with the "nerds" who were reading books and not talking to one another? Should we sit with the eccentric "theater kids" who were dressed in black and asking one another for a location?
Finally my mother's words popped into my head. I made the decision. I said, "today seems like a good day to make new friends."
We found a table with one girl sitting at it alone. We asked if we could join her. She said something to the effect of sure, if you really want to. We assured her that we did and by the end of lunch on the first day of 7th grade, four other people had asked us if they could join us and our lunch table was one of the more full ones. I specifically remember that the main thing I looked forward to during the first semester of 7th grade was lunch. I made some really good friends that year. Anytime that someone new came in, or was sitting alone, there was a space for them in our lunch group.
You all have to be there, and really you're all in the same boat. No one should have to endure it alone. Don't let anybody sit alone at a lunch table, because you wouldn't want to. Also, it would break your heart to know that your children or nieces and nephews were sitting alone during lunch.