I’ve taken a liking to coffee breaks in Starbucks. One of the things I’ve enjoyed about it is the friends I have made there. Heck, I thought I was just going for coffee, but inevitably it turned into a social event. One of the people I met was Chester. Chester had worked for court Justices doing various chores, and I had mentioned how I did legal editing part-time. That unleashed a bunch of stories and eventually over the years I learned about his family and of his experiences in the Army and WWII as well. Chester walked slowly from his room at the nursing/assisted living home about 6 blocks from the Starbucks every day, so we developed an interesting friendship when we met. He liked to write poetry, limericks and short stories. We eventually were on the same venue at an open mic night. I was singing blues with a friend, and Chester read his poetry. His eyesight wasn’t so good, and he had a hard time finding the microphone, so we missed a lot of it due to his quiet, raspy voice. Later I managed to read some of his works and really enjoyed them. He always put himself down and minimized what he had written, but I liked it. For the past couple of months I hadn’t seen him in Starbucks and wondered if something had happened and yesterday he showed up using a walker and oxygen with his son-in-law attending him. He was still alert and we had a nice chat, but it saddened me to see this great guy going downhill. He laughed and said his body was just wearing out. I don’t know if I could be so philosophical, and with such good nature be resigned to it as he was.
What I learned from this is that we are all carrying a story, and we either tell it ourselves or have someone else tell it. Chester shared it with me and also put some of it in writing and his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids will enjoy it someday. If you ever have thought about writing a memoir or sharing any of your adventures, I encourage you to do it. The quality isn’t as important as the doing. I have so often wished my forebears had done so. I would love to have shared in understanding their adventures…especially Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, and Jesse James…but even the ones that weren’t famous would be wonderful to know more about. It’s the only way we can travel through time, so don’t waste the opportunity!
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Greg
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