I poured a glass of beer, turned on the Blackhawks pregame show and was finishing a text message that said, “do you have time to chat?” I replied yes and two hours and eleven minutes later we hung up the phone.
The last time I talked on a telephone for over two hours, it had a chord connecting it to the wall.
My dad always said a dear friend is someone that you haven’t talked with or seen in several months, but when you do…. It’s like you saw each other the night before.
We often text back and forth and see each other occasionally, but life has distanced us for the most part.
George came out of his “Weird Science”themed bedroom and asked if he could make some popcorn. “Who ya talking to dad?”
I replied that I was talking to his God Mother, Auntie Amy. They both used me to relay their hello’s and their love.
Auntie Amy is George’s God mother and a dear friend. A dear friend that I’ve had for over thirty years. In fact at the beginning of that relationship we dated, lived together and broke up. We briefly dated again and then didn’t talk for about…. Six months.
That’s when another Don Shepley theory worked into play.
“Son, when you walk outside the door at 220 South Lombard… not many people out there think that you are special. The very few that do, you better keep them close throughout your lifetime.”
At a diner sometime in the mid nineties I was having breakfast with my Oldman. He told me that this girl…. A girl that loved me, held me, kissed me and broke bread with me. Someone who heard me fart in bed!!!!
I sure as hell better make sure she is in my life at some capacity until death…
Since that wise Saturday morning I’ve had a dear friend in Amy Weaver.
My Oldman loved Weavy and he was right about keeping her around. She’s been part of my foundation through thick and thin ever since.
George came out of his room again at 9:15. “Dad, it’s past your bedtime! What are you doing still up?”
That was our cue to end our epic phone call. A conversation that went all over the map. A conversation that was well needed for both of us.
There was a time in our lives we talked about the future. A future with four kids and a dog. Ignatius, Augustus, Margaret and Agnes. Affectionately known as Iggy, Auggie, Maggie, Aggie and their doggie Ziggy.
We took a different path that led us to something better. My life wouldn’t be complete without a dear friend like Weavy…..
It’s Halloween weekend! What’s your favorite candy bar?
Mine is a weird one… it’s one my dad would throw in my lap when he was getting in the car in front of the White Hen, the peppermint patty.
Last weekend of October. If you do one thing, call up someone who thinks you are special. It’ll make you feel Mo Betta’!
