Fall and Friends

This morning my boss forwarded me an email from her husband that had both of us choking up. Bruce, her hubby, is definitely what one would term a “man’s man.” He’s a fantastic all-around guy, who also apparently sends out a quote w/ comments to people he’s close to every Friday:

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately, without growing apart” Elisabeth Foley

This morning as I was pulling into the parking lot, I noticed this elderly man walking through the lot heading into the field next to my office for a walk with his dog. I have seen this man before this, usually on Friday mornings walking through the cemetery near the campus. As I was getting out of my truck, I said good morning to him. With an enthusiastic tone he replied, “yes, it is a wonderful morning isn’t it!” You all know me by now and how I love to talk to people so I took this as my opportunity J. So I said, “sir, I’ve noticed you walking through the cemetery on Friday mornings before. Can I ask why only on Friday’s?” "Sure" he said, as if he had something to tell me. "I come here every Friday to visit my wife up on the hill, then I come down here to visit my life-long buddy. We were in three wars together you know." So now I’m chocking back the tears and have a lump in my throat the size of a baseball. We talked for about ten minutes and I asked him what advice he would give to younger folks as we grow older. "Well, Bruce, (we exchanged names…his name is John) we don't always have control over our health, or even our wealth. But we have control of keeping in touch with our friends. So, I would have to say, stay in touch. Whether you're sick or poor, healthy or wealthy, you can always stay in touch." I thanked him and we shook hands and wished each other a good day.

Don’t let life get in the way. Remember, friendship isn’t one big thing…it’s a million little things.

Until next week…

L…L…L

Bruce

Fall is my favorite season, and to me, it comes with a sense of renewal (must have something to do with school starting – I wear my nerdiness as a badge of honor, thank you!). Perhaps the energizing change of season has had an effect on my interpersonal relations, because I’ve definitely felt compelled to reach out and reconnect with the people around me who may have gotten lost during the summer (summer is a selfish time, I’m fairly certain). So this email came at just the right time. Fate has a funny way of doing that to us, doesn’t it? :-)

XoX

Bex