Tag Archives: old friends

Bits of Legacy

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Somehow I don’t think people understand that legacy is all the little bits they leave behind.  I’m becoming more and more aware of what I’m leaving behind but this week I had a few wonderful moments of other people leaving parts of themselves behind.

My local dry cleaner is a funny, warm, interesting man.  We have the most thought-provoking and animated conversation each time I come in.  Frankly it’s the only reason why I come in as he doesn’t accept credit/debit cards.  It’s all cash or check and it is the single only check I write anymore.  One thing led to another during our weekly conversation and he was duly impressed that I write a blog.  We talk nostalgia, we talk NPR, we talk crazy people and he was excited when he found out he might find a bit of all that on Ordinary Legacy. He was supportive before even reading a single line. What a credit to his warmth and personality.

Then there is “the guy”.  We have a help desk for all our IT issues/problems/questions but…they aren’t really much help.  Mostly no fault of their own as they aren’t authorized to do many many many functions.   Greater minds than mine have figured out that this is an efficient way to operate (she said tongue firmly implanted in cheek).  I’m a pretty self-sufficient computer user but every once in a while I come across something that is unnerving/puzzling/aggravating/ always when working remotely.  It’s beyond my scope of knowledge and it would require the help desk but I’ve got “a guy”.  I’m not really sure how I found myself on the other end of a “call me directly anytime” invitation but I am so grateful I did.  I don’t take advantage and I try to exhaust most avenues before I instant message him with a help me Obi Wan but there are times when I’m in WTF mode and he is always helpful.  I adore him and I tell him so.  The thing is if he stood in front of me I wouldn’t even know it. He is patient and reminds me without making me feel like the dinosaur I am that he needs to be invited into my computer to fix it.  No snappy remarks when I say….remind me again.  What a gem, a gentleman and a true help.  He can’t begin to know the value in that and I truly do adore him.  Being a helpful individual leaves behind huge bits of legacy.

I had a young couple to dinner on Friday night.  He is dear to me but I was meeting her for the first time.  Oh how I love meeting old friends for the first time, some people are just destined to be in your life and leave behind grace, wisdom beyond their years and pragmatism.  What an enjoyable evening filled with talk and laughter and eating and on and on.   What they left behind for me was the gift of their youth and the prospect of watching them grow together.

Not a bad week all in all, filled with gifts from people who have no idea that they are spreading bits of themselves with legacy written all over them.  If only they knew that these little bits could be harnessed and expanded and could cement their legacy to so many.  The thing is do they have to know or is it better to just be who they are?  I know like I know that time will tell, it always does.

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Sometimes the Touch of a Friend is Enough

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Every once in a while you are privy to something so tender between two friends that you can’t help but watch.  It’s so lovely that you have to smile.  Inevitably it’s between two people who have been friends for many many years and moved beyond the “life gets in the way” stage.  They leave themselves open to animated conversation and gentle touches of reassurance and openness and honesty without ever deflecting any feelings.  Hard to believe you can gather this from a brief few minutes in time but when genuine love passes between friends it is just so palpable.  You can almost smell the sweetness or the saltiness or the feistiness or the sincerity in the air around them.

One of my oldest friends, my summer sister Kyle, and I managed to steal a catch up weekend away in a little town named Skaneateles in the finger lakes of New York State.  I’m sure people have been in on some of those same conversations we’ve had ourselves over the years but this time the tables were turned. In a local bakery we watched two friends chat for a few moments and were captivated by the exchange.

I was lucky enough to have my camera on the table and managed to click a few shots of that conversation right from the table. I never lifted the camera to my eye.   As abstract as the shots are you can still get the feeling passing between the two friends.

One looking up at the other,

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the other leaning on the table. For what, support, emphasis, to hear better.  Could have been any one of those reasons.

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And then a hand on the others shoulder. As Jackson Browne said, sometimes the touch of a friend is enough.

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He went on to say, “Hold a place for the human race, keep it open wide.”  There are times when bearing witness to another’s gift of friendship renews your faith in the human race and increases your awareness of the gifts you have in your own life.  It was a fitting and wonderful few moments to have shared with those two friends without them even knowing but it was all the more meaningful in the glance we exchanged after the one left.  We know like we know how precious our gift is.