The Stranger who became my Friend.
By Vicki Koch
7 May 2008
Once upon a time in a land of strangers, I came upon a man with the talent to turn a few pieces of plywood and paint cans filled with hues of Green and gold and black a couple of paint brushes and stencils into a street car.
I live a fairy tale life, with my job, I am fortunate to meet many strangers a year and learn about their lives... some come life long friends, others walk in add a little color to my life and I never see them again, but the memories are sweet and last through the years.
This stranger I met while giving a ride in the shuttle van going to pick up the special person in his life. He told me how she changed his life and makes walking through a field of dangle lions so much more then just a field of weeds. His eyes lit up like he was looking at a million dollars as he told me the tail of how they met and the paths their lives took and are taking.... it was interesting to me to hear how love started in his life...
The bus was late so it gave me more time to get to know him better... I showed him our city and the old buildings - drove down my childhood street where I grew up. We drove down where the Street Car he was working on was stationed, there was police tape and guards all over... but we drove in and took a look at it anyway... no one bothered to ask who we were or what we were doing down there. It was fun, getting to play the big shot with my new friend of 40 minutes and counting.
There was still time so we took another drive past a place my dad used to buy me Coney Dogs - I remember them to be the best in the land, I told my new Friend about them and he asked to stop there and he ran in and bought us some. That first bite brought flash backs of my childhood, kick the can, hide and go seek, red light green light, my mom getting all the kids in the neighborhood together for a game of baseball or kick ball and my daddy buying me the coney dogs and making me feel like a Queen. Funny how a simple jester of a stranger can bring all that back to mind.
My new friend and I drove around for just a few more minutes then his phone rang, his special girl had arrived and we need to head across town and pick her up. It was a fun night... My new Friend, his girl and I.
There were many stories he told how his life had been, the loves the loses the joys and the sorrows... some times his eyes would fill with pain so heavy too bear and then other times they would light up so bright you'd think his head was filled with sun shine. Life on the road is not what is cracked up to be, but you need to follow the money if you want to pay the bills.
He told me how his family was friends with Al Capone -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone - now that would have been a person you could hear a few stories from. He told some of the stories his Grandma told of Al Capone... very interesting if you have a time to sit and chew the fat. He told me about his wonderful children and how proud he was of them... he taught me while on a movie set to keep my mouth shut and follow direction when spoken to... that is a hard lesson for me. He has his "monsters" that follow him around and he has some ground to take back that has slipped from under him when the "monster" tied to take control... he has a ways to go to be where he used to be - but has come a long ways from the place sadness had sent him.
I am not sure what more I can say - but the stranger that became my friend - is a friend in deed and will be forever I figure....
