A Lonely “Pippi Longstocking” Learned That a Best Friend Comes from Within
A therapist celebrates the wisdom of a child
Lonely and alone
A six-year-old girl was brought to my psychotherapy practice by her concerned parents. A month before, her mother’s job had been transferred to another state with little notice.
They moved to an only partially developed house in the middle of nowhere. No one lived on the stretch of road that would become her address. She had to travel 40 minutes each way to and from school. Prior to the move, Caroline had been an active, very friendly child, who had kids trailing her like the tail of a kite.
It didn’t take me more than ten minutes to determine that the kid was psychologically in good shape. My diagnosis? She was just absolutely miserable — with no end in sight.
Every day the school bus dropped her off and she slogged her way through the mud that surrounded all of the houses in progress. She changed into her best clothes, grabbed a couple of toys and positioned herself on the top of the front steps.
“FRI-ENDS…FRI-ENDS,” she called plaintively. “WILL SOMEBODY BE MY FRIEND?” And like a little town crier, she spent the next minutes introducing herself to the air, with no success. When she was…
