INFLUENTIAL INFLUENCE

INFLUENTIAL INFLUENCE

Just what person influenced me in the past? It’s hard to pick one outstanding out of so many, but I chose my best friend in junior high school, Charlie Elam. We were as close as any two pre-teens could be, intimate from the moment we first met. Together, we went everywhere on our bikes, sat next to each other in classes and were basically inseparable.

Charlie wasn’t an athlete, not a great student – just a regular guy who taught me much that guides me in my life today.  I never recognized this fact until well into my adulthood.

He never had a bad word to say about anyone. There was always a smile on his face, especially when he greeted me. He amassed friends at a record pace – they all reacted enthusiastically to his cheery demeanor. He never swore, never talked about sex, never put down any of our classmates and always showed great respect for our teachers – a talent I never shared.

I often ate at Charlie’s house, an old wooden-framed place, heated by pot-bellyed stoves. The

food was alien to me, but tasted fantastic! Naturally, everything was cooked in bacon fat! Noting went to waste. Left-overs were re-heated time after time (in bacon fat, of course) until they were eaten. His parents treated me as if I was their son. They were not wealthy by any stretch (dad was a farmer), but whatever they had, they gladly shared with me … and oh, that bacon flavor!

His family showed me that it is the simple things that count. They possessed something other than wealth, something money cannot buy: a great, secure family life, love and respect for what they had plus a belief in the life with which this country provided them.

I had to move before I finished the ninth grade. I said goodbye to Charlie in the hall of the school. We awkwardly embraced, both starting to cry. To this day, I still remember that emotional scene. I left him alone, standing in the hallway. I still vividly recall the way he waved goodby.

We exchanged letters for a while, but it was no substitute for what we had. Those letters eventually stopped. I never saw Charlie again. Many years later, I tried to look him up on the internet, but it was fruitless.

To this day, he and his family stand out in my mind with continuing admiration. I doubt this kind of innocent and friendship still exists. I hope it does. I hope Charlie had a good life – he deserved it.

Thanks, Charlie!