Cabinetman's post yesterday reminded me of something I'd posted on another board several years ago.
Recently, I lost an old friend.
I remember my parents first taking me to see him when I was very small. I remember going over there in the evenings - my brother and I often in our pajamas - and we'd often fall asleep before we got home.
As I grew up I started visiting with a bunch of buddies. Or, even more often, with a special girl. (He never seemed to mind if we gently ignored him, spending more time with each other.)
Although he was always ready to feed us, he never complained if we showed up with a cooler full of our own goodies.
As too often happens with friends, we drifted apart over the years and I can't help but feel, way back in that secret part of my soul where I keep my regrets, that if I'd spent more time with him he might still be around. But he's gone now, along with most of his siblings. There's just a couple of cousins left, but they're way over on the other side of town and I'll probably never see them.
I didn't even get a chance to get a last picture. I was going to stop on the way up to see the in-laws and that's when I realized he was already gone. The sign that said “65-Hi Drive In Theater” had just been torn down that morning.
I'd say rest in peace, but that's no going to happen. Appathy, greed, urban sprawl and rising land values sealed his fate. His body lies in the dust, his light extinguished forever. And I'm gonna miss him.
Recently, I lost an old friend.
I remember my parents first taking me to see him when I was very small. I remember going over there in the evenings - my brother and I often in our pajamas - and we'd often fall asleep before we got home.
As I grew up I started visiting with a bunch of buddies. Or, even more often, with a special girl. (He never seemed to mind if we gently ignored him, spending more time with each other.)
Although he was always ready to feed us, he never complained if we showed up with a cooler full of our own goodies.
As too often happens with friends, we drifted apart over the years and I can't help but feel, way back in that secret part of my soul where I keep my regrets, that if I'd spent more time with him he might still be around. But he's gone now, along with most of his siblings. There's just a couple of cousins left, but they're way over on the other side of town and I'll probably never see them.
I didn't even get a chance to get a last picture. I was going to stop on the way up to see the in-laws and that's when I realized he was already gone. The sign that said “65-Hi Drive In Theater” had just been torn down that morning.
I'd say rest in peace, but that's no going to happen. Appathy, greed, urban sprawl and rising land values sealed his fate. His body lies in the dust, his light extinguished forever. And I'm gonna miss him.
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