A middle-aged man's Christmas memory [View all]
On Christmas day when I was 7 years old, I was sitting on the living room floor surrounded by Lionel Trains and all the You-Can-Tell-It's-Swell-It's-Mattel toys in existence. My best friend Walter, who lived with his mother in a small house in a not-so-great neighborhood, came by to visit. He stood for a few seconds in silence just looking at all the loot.
I said, "Hey Walter what did you get for Christmas?"
He hesitated, then touched his neck and said quietly, "I got this scarf."
The memory sticks because I could tell that Walter was embarrassed. I was too stupid at the time to know that I was the one who should have been embarrassed. At seven, I thought I had gotten all those toys because I deserved them. I was too stupid to realize that luck is not the same thing as virtue.
I don't know what ever happened to my best friend Walter. We lost touch over the years, the way kid best friends do. But I hope he has a Merry Christmas, wherever he is. I hope ya'll do too, DU.
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