A Rainy Sunday

Just trying to capture a few raindrops while experimenting with my new camera. . .CLICK to enlarge.

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I snapped this photo from a photo posted on the bulletin board. It isn't his best photo but he has on his red hat that he always wore.

FRED
I walked into the mailroom
Not quite two years ago. . .
He sat there watching the goings and comings. . .
“Hi, pretty lady,” he said as I entered.
“Hi,” I said back. . . “I’m Paulie. . . what’s your name?”
“Fred,” he said.

Sometimes old folks don’t have good memories
I am an old folk too so I had to think of something fast.
I could associate the store, Fred Meyers, with Fred
That would help me to remember his name.
I play these association games all the time.
It works for me. . .

Next time I see Fred, he says “Hi, pretty lady.”
I say, “Hi, Fred.”
Every time he sees me he says “Hi, pretty lady.”
Blushing got pretty old and finally I said to him. . .
“Fred, you don’t remember my name do you?”
A little embarrased, he admitted it and I told it to him again.
That day forward he called me Paulie . . . but once in awhile he still called me “pretty lady” too.

I don’t know much about Fred. . .
He liked to watch sports on TV.
He loved ice cream and had two cones at our social last year even tho he wasn’t supposed to eat ice cream.
Every morning, he was up bright and early and headed for coffee at the corner Starbucks.
He rode the bus and we met there sometimes.
The other daily routine he had was to buy a daily lottery ticket.
He won several times small amounts and most recently a thousand dollars. . .
He told me he spent a little of it but put the rest in the bank.
First, he asked me if I needed anything. . . and I said no graciously.
I told him he should go blow it on something he enjoyed --
Instead, it just sits in the bank and only he knows the final plans he had for it.

I know he’s in a better place.
I also know that I will miss him.
But each time I go past the mailroom,
I will hear his words in my heart. . .
"Hi, pretty lady!”
I am glad I knew him a little -- if only for a short time.
Blessings come in all kinds of packages.
This one was named Fred.