As human beings, we take comfort in certain things in life.
Right now, as I write this essay, under my desk and lying on my feet, is a
white Lab dog. I can feel her body heat radiating through my socks, and sense
her warm breath on my pant leg.
Right now though, I’m feeling a subliminal message from my furry friend
that goes beyond those physical signs, and that’s what I’m feeling the most.
That message being, “I want to be close to you. You think it’s just you that
feels me on your feet, but this goes both ways, buddy. I feel you, too, and I
know that’s what you’re writing about now, so this quiet reassurance goes both
ways.”
So often in life just a wink, a touch on the shoulder, or a
smile from across the room can say, “I care.” We live in a tech rich world
now—where for most people, there is no good reason to not stay in touch with
friends and family. I, personally, have been blessed with so many things in my
life—but the sum total of my friends and family goes way beyond all the earthly
riches I have accumulated. No matter how badly I feel, no matter how lonely I
get, a hug from a friend can make it all go away. If you’re willing to take me
in your arms, then I’m willing to take you into my heart. It’s just that
simple. We need to remember-- with friends and family-- comes commitment.
When I was a small boy, from time to time, I used to stay
with my grandparents in a very small town up north that seemed, at least to me,
to be on the very edge of civilization. Each day, grandpa would walk about a
mile down a dusty dirt road to the little post office lobby. He would insert a small silver key in
that tiny glass door and extract a fistful of letters. I often wondered how an
old retired man, like he was, could get so many letters. This was way before
the junk mail world we live in now. He would go back home, and open each
letter, and his face would just light up. They were letters from his friends.
To grandpa, there were no strangers in his life; just friends he hadn’t met
yet. Then, after reading each letter, he would sit down with his old Smith
Corona typewriter, and with two fingers, he would peck out his reply. Think
about all the effort he made to reach his friends. Most days now, when our
friends reach out to us, we only have to click on “reply” and say what’s on our
mind. My grandpa was my hero in life. He never gave me anything tangible, or
otherwise, but he showed me every day of his life, how to live my life and how
to treat people.
A while back, I weathered a storm in my life when I lost my
soul mate, and I leaned on so many people. They leaned back, propped me up, and
took me into their hearts. The road through that storm became less bumpy each
day, and the clouds that had been so black, and filled with cold rain, dried up
and the winds calmed. Slowly, my dear friends and family, with smiles on their
faces, watched me go my way again. We still touch fingertips from time to
time—like little booster shots that say, as the pup lying on my feet says, “I’m
still here, and if you need me, just ask.” That’s what life is really about my
friends. You might be the guy on the playground with the most marbles in your
bag, but if you have no one to shoot mibs with, it’s just another heavy bag of
marbles to carry around.
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