SLIPPERS

Dear Friends,

I was sitting in a pair of well worn green suede slippers thinking about my best friend, Ron who once wore them. Shortly after he passed away Wil knocked on our door and gave me some of his clothing. Among them were the slippers he wore when lounging around at home in pajamas and a matching green robe.

Whenever I wear these slippers I always think of him and the friendship we were blessed to have over the years. He truly was a friend who stuck closer than a brother.

When my family and I were moving to California one of our friends gave us Ron & Wil's address and told us to stop by to see them. We arrived in California on a holiday with our son suffering from an asthma attack. We remembered that Wil was a nurse so we decided to stop at their house to see if she knew a doctor to whom we could take our son.

I knocked on their door and Ron answered with a paint brush in his hand. He was painting his living room. I told him our situation and he explained that Wil was working at the hospital and drove us there immediately. After my son received a shot and his asthma attack subsided, at his insistence, we returned to their home for dinner.

During dinner I asked him where we could find a reasonably priced motel. He told me we could stay with them until I found a job and we could rent a house. We were strangers and he took us in. We became brothers in Christ and stood by one another through blessings and hardships.

Looking down at those precious slippers I wrote the following poem in his memory. Ah, what blessed memories they have brought back to me.

SLIPPERS

I walk in another man's shoes,
In slippers - too big to be filled.
Our friendship lasted for years,
Together life's furrows we tilled.

A stranger, I knocked on his door
He answered and asked me inside
A great man noble and true,
He stood loyally close by my side.

Our friendship blossomed with love,
We knew each other so well.
The years sped by, he passed away,
To Heaven he went to dwell.

His wife came and knocked on my door,
Handed me a box of his clothes.
His slippers I wear with thoughts of him,
It soothes all my ills and my woes.

On life's way I've worn many slippers,
But none are quite as neat,
As slippers of a friend who walked with me,
Precious memories adorning my feet!

Don E. Cunningham ©9-18-2007

I have heard that if we have one good lifetime friend we are blessed beyond measure. While I have been blessed with several friends over the years, none have left so many pleasant memories as Ron and Wil.

I hope you have such friends in your life, if you do cherish every moment with them.

Don E. Cunningham, copyright 9-30-2007