Goodbye Dear Friend
Twenty years. That’s a long time. Who could have imagined that we would have been together this long? Certainly, not me. I’ve polled friends and family. Some were able to toss up some impressive numbers of longevity themselves–but not twenty years. No one came even close.
We met in the most ordinary of places, purely by happenstance. I certainly had not sought you out, nor you I. I am sure of this. Sometimes the most meaningful and enduring of all relationships begin in just such a manner. Ours was to be no different.
Through good times, you have been with me. And bad. You’ve seen my happiness, my pain, my sorrow. You have been with me for the best times of my life. You were there when I first kissed my then to be wife. You were there when I picked out her ring. You were there the first time I got a stamp in my passport, the first time I set foot on foreign soil. You were there when I was married. You were there when we bought our first home. You were there when my kids were born. You were there when my mother passed away. You have been privy to my every experience for the past twenty years.
Saying goodbye literally tears apart my soul. I knew this day would come, it had to. But honestly, I did not think it would be this difficult. I’m going to miss you old friend.
I bought that wallet twenty years ago in a little leather shop in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Ten dollars! Best ten dollars I ever spent. Yesterday, I retired the poor thing. It was coming apart at the seams and was wearing through in a couple of areas on the corners. It was not an easy thing to do. Today, I’m a little sad. Missing a dear friend.
Dude! You should have that thing bronzed!
DUDE is right! That looks familiar… oh just like MY husbands wallet, except his is brown. WAS brown, I should say. Then I bought him a new one. NICE too. Does he use it? Nope. I think its in my bag, as a matter of fact. He just takes the only two cards he ever uses and just drops them in his pocket.
How come I have to carry so much stuff?
WHY WHY WHY?
Hey, now you can get that murse you’ve had your eye on.
That’s impressive. I’m pretty sure I’ve never gone more than 5 years without opting to drop another $15 or so on a new one. In fact, I’m probably approaching that time now. And to think, in the last 20 years you’ve had a whole $45 extra to spend on more important things!
While I admire the loyalty and all that jazz…. GOOD RIDDANCE! Now…. go replace that thing with a proper TRI-FOLD wallet!
My reader only showed this post upto before the picture, I was on the verge of tears….
when I clicked over and saw the wallet I broke down, I’ve recently had to do the same thing.
Wallets are serious companions for men.
That is a little sad. Crazy as it is, once I get used to a wallet I hate to use a new one. I wish you a long 20+ years with the next one!
Letting go is hard to do. But seriously, I though you were talking about a family pet or something. When I got down to the pictures of the wallet, I almost spit my coffee.
Ooooooouch. That was a good one, Whit.
I lose my wallets within about a week of buying them. I have a key ring that I got on my first day of university however, and i’d be eternally sad if I lost that.
Maybe you can pass it on to one of the kids. Vintage is hip you know?
Ha! You really had me going, you know! Darn you for playing with my emotions like that!
Men and their wallets…
One of the things I am looking forward to next week’s vacation is buying a new purse. See, we women get a new one with each change of season. And at about $100 a pop….
Wait a minute. I just realized that you have spent $10 in 20 years. And me? About … oh, crap, I don’t want to know.
They don’t make ‘em like they used to.
That’s impressive! I have been in the same wallet for about 10 years, so I totally understand where you are coming from!