When you are having fun with friends or goofing off with siblings, it’s important not to get caught up in the fun and lose awareness of where you are or what you’re doing. Occasionally, we need reminders of lessons such as this one. I had a small but impactful reminder of this when I was a young child.

At the time, I was just a cute, innocent five-year-old who followed her older brother everywhere. When this event occurred, my brother Isaac was about seven years old, and the nicest kid you’d ever meet. We did everything together, like playing dress up, jumping on the trampoline, and collecting rocks and gems. 

My brother and I were at home, a typical morning in the Boger house. The morning was cheery, and there were no disagreements to be had. Over a delicious breakfast that consisted of salty cottage cheese and bursting blueberries, my brother and I discussed our plans for the day. At the time we could only think short term, so our plans for the “day” were more like plans for the next two hours.

“Isaac, we should go on the trampoline after breakfast,” I said, remembering how each jump on the trampoline gave me the freeing feeling of flying.
“Okay, but I want to get my lightsaber first,” Isaac responded.

He descended to the basement to grab his lightsaber as I jogged outside to our trampoline to wait for him. It was lovely outside. The sun was blazing, but a light breeze cut through the scalding heat, resulting in the rare warmth that penetrates your skin and sinks into your bones without boiling you alive.

When he finally came out we jumped on the trampoline, launching each other up into the clear air. We both tripped on the trampoline and fell on our knees tossing our heads back in laughter. There we lay, the best of friends.

Soon we grew exhausted and decided to return to the cool air that would greet us in our home. As we were walking back through the recently trimmed grass, a bee caught my brother’s eye. It was sitting on a small pink and white flower that had a whimsical Dr. Seuss look to it. This whole situation may have been avoided if it had not been for the butterfly net that had been sitting there right next to the bee. The fluorescent orange net caught my brother’s eye, and he grabbed it. He had wanted a closer look at the bee just as any young child would. Interested, I paused to watch as he slowly, so as not to alert the bee of the bright orange danger that was coming, lifted the net and placed it carefully over the top of the firework-like flower that the bee sat peacefully atop.

“Look at its wings!” Isaac said to me with curiosity in his voice.

I leaned in close to the net, and noticed one of the bee’s wings was slightly torn, however the bee still managed to buzz around the net frantically.

“I wonder what happened to it,” I said in response. “You should let it go, Isaac. It’s hurt.”

He began to lift the net, and the grass that had been pressed down by the net slowly sprung back up, one emerald blade at a time. The now angry bee still circled the net looking for a way out, not realizing the growing gap as the net was lifted. All of a sudden it flew out of the net in a rage, looking for someone to unleash its wrath upon. Unfortunately, it chose me as its target.

“OWWWW,” I cried out as tears welled up in my eyes. All of my anger shifted from the bee to my brother. “This is all your fault! I didn't even capture the bee in the first place!”
“I'm sorry,” He said with sympathy written over his face.

After my mom helped get the stinger out of my arm, I realized the situation could have been avoided if only I had taken a moment to think of where I was and what was happening around me. My brother did not have a malicious intent, he was just young and curious. Sometimes we might be around friends who don’t realize that they are hurting us or doing the wrong thing. But if we can take a glance at the situation around us, we can realize the impact our peers are having on us, and make better choices. This small but impactful event gives me a good reminder to take a step back and observe the situation around me.