Staying in touch
By Bill Shepard
I dialed the number on my phone and waited for an answer.
A familiar voice came over the phone and I recognized it immediately as that of Hank, Janet’s husband. After a brief conversation with Hank, I asked if I could speak to Janet. Both Janet and Hank had been close friends and neighbors of the Shepards when we lived in Florida.
There was silence and then words that were a total surprise. “Sorry, Bill, Janet passed away three months ago. I meant to call you but have neglected to do so.”
I did not know what to say. Had it been three months since I had been in touch? “I’m sorry, Hank,” I said, and placed my phone on its resting place. I picked up a pen that was nearby and scribbled in large letters on a blank sheet of paper … STAY IN TOUCH!
Had it been three months since we had been in touch? I sat staring at the words I had written. They seemed to stare back at me. Memories of our times together paraded across my mind. Now Janet was gone and I would learn later that Hank had moved into a nursing facility.
There were so many questions and I would never know the answers. Hank’s words, “I meant to call,” would not go away.
In today’s world, staying in touch is an easy thing. There are no justifiable reasons or excuses for not doing so! That has not always been true! I can remember a time when, if a friend or relative lived out of walking distance, the only means of staying in touch was by letter! Even that was difficult when I was a boy! On the village where I lived, there was no mail service!
To send a letter, we had to carry it to the YMCA and that was a distance from where we lived. Once there, we purchased a stamp, put it on the letter, and gave it to someone who would send it off. At the same time, we would ask if there was mail there for us. The man who took care of that was usually the barber who operated a barber shop inside the YMCA. Yes, time changes everything!
How long has it been since you sat down and wrote a “newsy” letter to anyone? Most everyone has a telephone at their fingertips! I was old enough to be in the military before I had spoken over a telephone! I would not have known how to operate a pay phone if there had been one on the village! In emergencies, a runner would carry the message to its intended destination! Today one of the first things a child learns to do is to answer the phone!
Yes, staying in touch is much easier than it once was! Besides the telephone, there are other means at our disposal. We have a thing called a computer and with that there is Facebook! Do I need to say more?
Recently I attended a small church in a town nearby. Someone at the church had a friend in Florida, and that friend is a friend to my daughter who also lives in Florida. Before I could drive the 30 miles back home that day, my daughter in Florida had already heard that I had been in attendance there that day! Amazing!
There is one other means of keeping in touch with our present and past. It is one of our oldest. It is called the printed page, or newspaper! Your local newspaper keeps you in touch with your town and the things happening there.
I look forward each week to the arrival of my News & Press. This old friend has played a part in my life since I was a little boy attending grammar school at St. John’s in Darlington. I often went to the place where it was being printed to purchase paper and pencils, even textbooks.
The sign over the door read in large letters, NEWS & PRESS, but I did not know that was the name of a newspaper! That, dear readers, was a long, long time ago! Today it is still in operation, keeping folk near and far aware of happenings in this old town. Neither time nor space is available for me to ramble on with my memories, but in all of your doings, stay in touch.
You never know at what moment it will be too late! Never have to use the words, “I meant to”!
