Frames

​Since it was Labor Day, it was only appropriate that I start my spring cleaning. Yes, I know. It is September (tomato, tomahto). I am only a little bit late.
 
First, I decided to clean my kitchen cabinets. Not the inside, they are clean. But the doors, with all the panel decoration, had gathered dust and dirt in corners that only a good scrubbing could fix. And for the record? I killed two completely innocent toothbrushes for this task.
 
What a feeling of accomplishment! Onward to some office cabinet drawers.
 
This chore brought a plethora of thoughts. “Why did I keep this?” “Huh, am I daft?” Until I reached the bottom. There it was. One of my most treasured possessions. You will need to know a little history to understand why.
 
When I moved back to Indiana, I was in a mess of sorts. A broken relationship, lost income, and questionable self-esteem darkened my path. With the help of my best friend, I managed to somehow land on my feet. Yet I was certain it was number nine of my nine lives.
 
I have always surrounded myself with special people. It is what I do best. When I make friends, I generally make them for forever. I had lost touch with one of those dear friends, and on a lonely night in 2007, I decided to reach out.
 
You all know that true friendships never fail, right? It might be days or months or years between contact, but the connection never wanes. I dialed the number and waited for him to answer.
 
When he did, although it had been a couple of years, it was like yesterday. We immediately found perfectly reasonable excuses for why it had been so long, and we laughed and cried for hours. Resurrection does a body good (no pun intended).
 
Although I cannot remember the exact details, he humorously scolded me about not buying something. Gosh, I wish I could remember what it was, but it cost $43.00. I do recall telling him that frivolous purchases were not in my budget, and we laughed and laughed. It was a great chat.
 
A week later, I received a letter from him with – you guessed it – a $43.00 check. Oh my, I giggled for days. And when he asked me a few weeks later why I had not cashed it, I told him I wasn’t going to.

​I was going to frame it because it was, without a doubt, one of the most thoughtful, funny, and loving things that anyone had done for me in a long time. I never wanted to forget it.
 
We kept in touch often after that call. But you know how it goes. Time just flutters by so fast that things get lost in the shuffle. It had been a couple of years since we talked when I found that check in the drawer.
 
The phone number was disconnected. So, I let my fingers take a Google walk. That’s when the lump in my throat fell like a rock into my heart. I found his obituary from May 11, 2023. I cried and cried, alone this time. Much like my spring cleaning, I was a few months too late.
 
So, if you have a friend, and it’s been a while, pick up your phone and call, text, or what the heck, mail them a $43.00 check. Let them know you’re thinking of them.
 
That is all for now. I have a frame to buy. Ah, but that is fodder for yet another rant.

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