Reflections
F RIENDS
FOR
LIFE
hen Charlie Peters ’09 delivered a chapel speech at St. Mark’s School this spring, he shared his memories of Fenn and the many friends he made here. One classmate, however, was “intimidating, and extremely smart, which I envied. I hated him and he hated me and my eleven-year-old mind told me nothing would ever change.”
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Charlie offered as evidence a story about the time he was walking across the Fenn campus with his lacrosse stick and ball, “and this kid came out and took the ball from me and wouldn’t give it back.” They began to argue, then push and shove, and Charlie walked away and began to cry. Relating this story in front of his St. Mark’s classmates and teachers, Charlie surprised them all with his next comment: “The crazy thing is that this kid I once hated more than anyone is sitting to the left of me, and he’s my best friend.” Charlie explained that eventually, Michael Hoffman ’09 and he became “inseparable,” spending every
Best friends Mike, Ryan MacDonald, Nick Weigel, and Charlie, all class of 2009, after Charlie’s chapel speech this spring at St. Mark’s School.
Michael Hoffman, left, and Charlie Peters, both class of 2009, receiving the Biscoe Award at Fenn
weekend together with a group that included classmates Wyatt Bramhall ’09, Nick Weigel ’09, and Ryan MacDonald ’09. When Charlie graduated from Fenn, he was terrified that he would lose touch with his best friends. But that didn’t happen. When Mike, also a St. Mark’s student, learned that Charlie was to speak in chapel about friendship, he contacted Nick, Wyatt, and Ryan. Nick got a ride home from Exeter; Ryan, who is at Westford Academy, and his mom, Donna, headed to St. Mark’s; and only Wyatt, a senior at Concord-Carlisle High School, was unable to make it. When Charlie’s mother, Karen, recently related the story to Headmaster Jerry Ward, she reminded him of a remark he made at the evening celebration of the eighth grade class in 2008. “When you said that Fenn boys would form friendships for life,” said Karen, “you were right!”
Did you make a friend for life at Fenn? Let us know and we’ll write your story. Contact loneill@fenn.org.
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