Friends

My friend, Cline lives about three houses up the street.  We both like to fish, to do woodworking projects, and we both have an interest in American Sign Language.  Cline is just kind and wants to learn ASL and I am a late deafened adult.

Cline also has an interest in cooking, and I have an interest in sampling, so we have that in common too.  (The pumpkin cake is heavenly.)   We don’t see each other too often as we are on completely different schedules.   You see, Cline is thirteen and I was born during the Eisenhower administration, but even though there is a significant difference in ages, I am proud to call Cline my friend.

Recently, I have been struggling with some of the downsides of being deaf.  (I am still not accustomed to a silent world and I might have been feeling somewhat sorry for myself.)  Then just before Thanksgiving, I learned that I would need hip replacement surgery.  The phrase ‘what other good news will I get?’ crossed my mind.

And so, when another friend, Sandra, posted a quote on social media just before Thanksgiving the grateful imagery caught my attention. The quote was from the book Charlotte’s Web which was one of my childhood favorites.  I copied the quote and sent it out to several friends two weeks ago with a subject line that simply read ‘Thank you”.  On my text list was my friend Cline.  The quote is listed here…

“Why did you do all this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it.   I’ve never done anything for you.”

“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

                                                                                        – E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web”

I received several nice responses from friends, but the one that came back immediately from Cline definitely stayed with me…

I’m thankful for your friendship and the things you’ve taught me.   Happy Thanksgiving!

The first thing through my mind was Wow! When I was twelve, you would have been lucky to get a grunt out of me much less an actual sentence expressing appreciation.  And the second thing was, Good golly, Cline is wise beyond his years.

My friend Cline has an undeniably positive attitude.   You just will not see Cline without a smile on his face.  Cline also has chronic neutropenia, so he has spent more time in hospitals than all of the rest of us on our block put together. There is nothing that stops his positive spirit.

Cline is an inspiration.  A blood disorder, hospitalizations, bone marrow transplants, separation from friends, homeschooling…the list is long, but his smile is unwavering.  I think that I have already learned more about life from my friend and neighbor than I could ever impart.  

So, today I would like to share these two things…

Happy thirteenth birthday, Cline. I hope it has been the best one yet!

And I would like to return this gift to Cline… 

I’m thankful for your friendship and the things you’ve taught me.  

Thanks for listening!

Your friend,

KBM
Kevin Medlin
kevin@mysilentpew.com