We Look In On Each Other
Just some thoughts: I love basketball. It’s been a love affair for me since those early days in Indiana when my dad nailed a hoop to an old red barn on the old Ray Woods place. I see a lot of games during basketball season. It’s not uncommon for me to see four to five games a week. Probably I’m most fond of watching small college or the smaller division of NCAA or NAIA. |
I arrived at the game early, something I often do. Not too far from the gym there was a small restaurant, a mom and pop operation. As I entered the restaurant I was greeted with “What can we do for you, hon?” Pretty common greeting in the south. I got a cup of coffee, found myself a paper and set in to kill a bit of time before the game. By the way, stay away from the sweet tea down south, they put more sugar in their tea than Dominos makes.
As I sat there something caught my eye. I saw two older gentlemen coming out of a high rise building, a senior citizen retirement center. These two men are attempting to make their way down some steps and off the curb to cross the street to this restaurant where I am. I watched with some discomfort for them. Both are using canes and they are making their way at about the pace of a sick turtle.
As they made their way in one of them said to me as he passed, “Hey young fella, how you doin?” They asked if they could sit at the table next to me. Of course, I tell them. “My name is Earl and this here is Eddie, we live across the street; don’t think I’ve ever seen you in here before.” It quickly becomes evident that ole Earl is the spokesperson for the two. I tell them I’ve come to the ballgame and I’m just killing some time. “Good place to kill it.” From there I find out a number of things. “We both lost our wives this past year and we are good friends, and so everyday we just kind of look in on each other.” As I drove home that night I got to thinking about Earl and Eddie, and what Earl said to me: “We both just kind of look in on each other.” I thought good friends do that, you know, they look in on each other.
old friends you can always call
Old friends Lord, you can’t buy’em,
you know its old friends after all
And when the house is empty
and the lights begin to fade
And there’s nothing to protect you
except the window shade
And it is hard to put your finger on the
things that scare you most
And you can’t tell the difference between
an angel and a ghost
Old friends, they shine like diamonds,
old friends you can always call
Old friends Lord, you can’t buy’em,
you know its old friends after all
-written by Roger Miller
Keep on,
Larry Adamson