My Friend David
Its funny how life is.
I was coming back to my mothers house today from picking up a few things from the store. As I pulled in, I noticed that a car was in the driveway. I just assumed it was the hospice nurse but I noticed a man sitting on the front porch wearing an Alabama hat talking to my Mom. When I got out of my car, I noticed it was someone I have not seen in about 25 years.
David is a friend of mine who lived around the corner from us when I was growing up. When he was born, David had a terrible heart condition. He had to endure multiple heart operations while he was a kid. Due to this fact, David spent a lot of time out of school and was developmently behind most of his classmates. As he grew up, David's heart slowly began to get stronger. The contingent of kids in our neighborhood were aware of his condition and we all looked out for him. Whenver we played football, we always allowed David to be the quarterback. Not that we felt sorry for him mind you....but he was good at it. David could really throw a football. However, we did not tackle him nor did we put him in the position where he could exert himself....such as running. David attended school with us for a while but was sent to the "special" class due to his being so far behind everyone else. I can remember early on that when we all got off the bus, David would look at us and wave and walk to where his classroom was at. I can remember those days. The classroom for special education was located at the very far corner of our school. There was no sidewalk or walkway to it. Remember these were the days that accessible considerations were not addressed. David tried to make it through these classes but it proved too much for him. He never had any physical problems other than getting short of breath now and again. It did not make sense to me why he all of a sudden quit going to school. We remained close for a short time afterward until time started to take its toll and as all the kids started growing up, our priorities started changing. I drifted away from David. I would see him now and again as he would go in and out of his parents house. I assumed that he was given a home education. Then I got married and moved away.
I walked onto our carport where he was talking to my mother and he said "Where did all of your hair go?" I told him down the drain....LOL. I embraced him. David is now 42 years old but he has not changed hardly any. And I mean that. None. He still looked and even dressed the same. David was always dressed very nice, something he got from his mother who is 84 now and I know still as sweet as ever. We talked over old times and he told us the story of his father passing just before Christmas and his mother being in bad health. My thoughts turned to his well being if that should happen. However, David has an older brother and sister who still live close. Once again, the past memories of us playing football and goofing off as kids all came back.
David has done well. He took care of his father while he was sick and doing the same with his mother. David doesn't work. He never has as far as I can know. David is certainly more than capable of holding down a job but I can see why he hasn't. He has been through more as a kid than I have in my whole lifetime.
As he got up to leave, I told him that I will be back next Friday if he can come by again. I need to go and visit his mother. I enjoyed seeing him today. I have missed my friend David.
I was coming back to my mothers house today from picking up a few things from the store. As I pulled in, I noticed that a car was in the driveway. I just assumed it was the hospice nurse but I noticed a man sitting on the front porch wearing an Alabama hat talking to my Mom. When I got out of my car, I noticed it was someone I have not seen in about 25 years.
David is a friend of mine who lived around the corner from us when I was growing up. When he was born, David had a terrible heart condition. He had to endure multiple heart operations while he was a kid. Due to this fact, David spent a lot of time out of school and was developmently behind most of his classmates. As he grew up, David's heart slowly began to get stronger. The contingent of kids in our neighborhood were aware of his condition and we all looked out for him. Whenver we played football, we always allowed David to be the quarterback. Not that we felt sorry for him mind you....but he was good at it. David could really throw a football. However, we did not tackle him nor did we put him in the position where he could exert himself....such as running. David attended school with us for a while but was sent to the "special" class due to his being so far behind everyone else. I can remember early on that when we all got off the bus, David would look at us and wave and walk to where his classroom was at. I can remember those days. The classroom for special education was located at the very far corner of our school. There was no sidewalk or walkway to it. Remember these were the days that accessible considerations were not addressed. David tried to make it through these classes but it proved too much for him. He never had any physical problems other than getting short of breath now and again. It did not make sense to me why he all of a sudden quit going to school. We remained close for a short time afterward until time started to take its toll and as all the kids started growing up, our priorities started changing. I drifted away from David. I would see him now and again as he would go in and out of his parents house. I assumed that he was given a home education. Then I got married and moved away.
I walked onto our carport where he was talking to my mother and he said "Where did all of your hair go?" I told him down the drain....LOL. I embraced him. David is now 42 years old but he has not changed hardly any. And I mean that. None. He still looked and even dressed the same. David was always dressed very nice, something he got from his mother who is 84 now and I know still as sweet as ever. We talked over old times and he told us the story of his father passing just before Christmas and his mother being in bad health. My thoughts turned to his well being if that should happen. However, David has an older brother and sister who still live close. Once again, the past memories of us playing football and goofing off as kids all came back.
David has done well. He took care of his father while he was sick and doing the same with his mother. David doesn't work. He never has as far as I can know. David is certainly more than capable of holding down a job but I can see why he hasn't. He has been through more as a kid than I have in my whole lifetime.
As he got up to leave, I told him that I will be back next Friday if he can come by again. I need to go and visit his mother. I enjoyed seeing him today. I have missed my friend David.
Posted by Scotty Ice at 8:01 PM:
It's nice seeing old friends again. I had 2 very close friends in school. Much like you, time has taken its place and I have not seen them in years. I think of them often and wonder when we will meet again. We all have much to catch up on.
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