Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

I recently got the chance to help chaperone my cousin’s fifth grade field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium.

If you’ve never been, it’s an interesting day trip in the heart of Chattanooga. Especially during the summer, it’s a nice way to spend the day in the air conditioning checking out a myriad of aquatic animals.

Also, they have penguins. Who doesn’t like seeing a penguin?

Maybe Batman?

Anyways, I’ve been recruited to tag along on a variety of field trips for said cousin and his older sister. I’d like to think it’s because I am incredibly fun to be around, but it could be as simple as my car having a decent air conditioner.

I was confronted on this trip with one of those interesting moments where life comes around full-circle and knocks you right on the side of the head.

One of the parents who has a kid in my cousin’s class is a girl, or woman since we’re both well into our 30s now, I’ve known since we were four years old.

We met in class in the Cannon County Head Start program.

The two of us were never the best of friends, but we’ve always had a cordial relationship and always make a point of saying hello when we see each other. After all, we went to school together until high school.

Before I decided to go on the field trip to the aquarium, I noted that it would probably be my last chaperoning experience. My cousin was moving on to middle school after this year where school trips aren’t as common.

On the way to Chattanooga, the group stopped at a Chick-Fil-A to grab breakfast. I ran into my old school acquaintance as we waited in line for food.

We exchanged pleasantries and went about our way.

In the car after breakfast, a thought entered my mind that somehow hadn’t until that point:

“I went on my first field trip with this person, and now I’m on my last field trip with her as well.”

Back in Head Start, we would go on trips to local businesses and get shown around to see how they operate.

The first one I can remember was at our local Piggly Wiggly. We also went to a bank at some point, and I’m sure there are others that I’m forgetting because, after all, that was almost 30 years ago.

It struck me so hard because there were so many factors that had to go into making that connection happen.

I was never required to go on these field trips. I always liked to because I remember how meaningful it was to have an adult take the time to go on field trips.

My dad tagged along on that first field trip to the Piggly Wiggly, and my mom went on a number of them as well. It just always made the event seem even more special.

Me and my old Head Start chum have led completely different lives and only see each other on rare occasions.

Yet there we were putting a book end on this decade’s long journey that neither of us knew we were even on.

I spent the rest of that day in the back of my mind thinking about all of the life that happened for both of us, which is why I think those moments are so impactful when they happen.

You start to think about everything that had to have happened for that thing to have happened.

It’s incredibly taxing yet incredibly rewarding the ability of reflection.

I don’t know how many more times we’re going to run into each other but no matter where we end up or what happens, for the rest of our life we’ll have shared our first and last field trips together.