It was a so-so day at work, a familiar place and a
few new faces. Things maintained pretty much
the same.
The second shift was about to begin. He was in the
last few hours of his work. He looked forward to
seeing his friend enter the store with her smiling
eyes and warm greeting.
It was the little things in life which gave him a lift
each day, and his friend certainly did that for him.
There was no hanky-panky going on between them.
He was twenty-some years older than she and more
like a daughter to him. She was gifted with the beauty
of youth and a sincere and bubbly personality,
appealing to everone she reached.
He was into photography on the side, and one day
when things were a bit slow at work, he asked her
if he could take her picture. And several years latter
he was glad he did.
As time passed and the inevitability of life’s changes
came into play, both got new jobs and went their
separate ways. They kept in touch by phone and
the internet now and again. His friend had married
a former fellow employee, but for reasons unbe-
knownst to him things didn’t work out for them.
Such a shame, she deserved better, but such was
life in these rapidly changing times. And he and
his eccentric experiences knew a hell of a lot
about spontaneous and unforeseen yet inevitable
changes.
Through mutual acquaintances, he got word that
she had come upon hard times, had lost her job,
had become homeless and was living on the street
with some other man.
Her difficulties didn’t end there. She had con-
tracted a rare flesh-eating biological disease
which required several major operations.
The last he had heard from her, she was in
need of money to pay for procedures and
care. He contributed what he could afford
through one of those go-fund-me sites on
the internet. Last he heard, her condition
had improved some. And then he got word
that things had taken a turn for the worse,
and that she had passed away. He was heart-
broken.
Such a beautiful soul taken away prematurely
at such an early age. And he never had the
chance to see her again and give her his loving
concern . Goddamn it! the uncertain cruelty of
life sometimes.
Now he in his mid-seventies and infirm
himself often thinks of his beautiful friend.
Her life cut short and never to have a family
and children of her own. Never to have the
blessed experience of being known lovingly
by little children as, “Nana.”
Gladly he would have given her ten years
of his own life for her to have lived those
glory years in life. She was so deserving
of that.
He held that precious picture of her
he had taken so many years earlier.
He remembered anticipating the
start of second shift at work, her
entering the store, and those beautiful
smiling eyes.
He never expected to see the day.
Life is all too often that way
-30-
Chris Hanch 8-27-2021
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