Doug and Dick were friends. No, they were best friends
in a relationship that spanned six decades and included their wives and
extended to their children, grandchildren and even great grands.
They, as most friends do, shared many core values. They were
hard working in their small businesses and believed in participating in making
changes instead of just complaining. They loved their families and where
tireless ambassadors for the states in which they lived (Dick in Rhode Island
and Doug in Vermont). They valued common sense which they often perceived to be
short supply. They could be tough task masters but also kind and generous.
Their early morning (4 or 5 am) email threads were legendary sessions sharing
tidbits about business, politics, finances and family; it was as bracing a
start to the day as that first sip of joe. Dick mentored Doug in ham radio and
Doug showed Dick how to strip furniture.
AND they were both borderline hoarders!
No attic, basement, closet or shed was immune from stashes
of miscellany that these two thought might be valuable or useful – someday.
Dick’s collection of “stuff” was top-heavy with radio paraphernalia of every
shape age and size. Doug’s stash included a Home Depot’s worth of hardware,
tools, plumbing parts and small motors.
SO, that is the back story.
Doug passed away in December of 2014.
We, his family, are still finding odd bits of interesting
things in backrooms and cubbies some seven and a half years later. One day I
found a small brown plastic radio high up on a shelf. The Bakelite case was
cracked and the dial, sporting a graphic of an airplane, was dingy though
intact. Perhaps Doug had saved it for his friend. Perhaps Dick could salvage
something from this shabby radio remnant? Perhaps. Off to Dick it went.
Yesterday, I was gifted the little brown vintage radio back.
In the months it had been with our friend, it had been lovingly restored to
working condition using old radio tubes from his “hoarded” stash. It appears to
be a somewhat rare -- and maybe valuable -- little 1940-1950s electronic
treasure that was used to monitor air traffic. Dick is the one in a million
that has/had the parts, the knowledge and the desire to fix up this long-hoarded
relic, this bit of history that honored a frugal and saving lifestyle and a four-generation
friendship.
It was a gift touching beyond measure and will have a place
of honor. Not to be too maudlin, but if we could hoard friends like these, wouldn’t
we?
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