"Well I've Done It Again"

Several years ago an old gentleman passed through by way of the telephone and a beautiful friendship grew.

The first time he called he'd dialed the number wrong. I could tell he was an older gentleman by his soft, spoken tone.

"I was trying to call my friend" he said, but I dialed you instead. I probably dialed one number wrong can't keep nothing straight in my head.

I told him that was ok and we talked for quite a while. When I hung up the phone there was joy in my heart and on my face a big smile.

A week or so passed before he called again. I knew who it was when I heard his voice and he said "Well I've done it again".

We talked quite a bit and he told me about his wife, a lot about his family and he said "I've lived ninety-six years and been blessed with a good life."

Then he went on to say, his wife had died several years before and he lived by himself and things weren't the same anymore.

He told me they'd been married for over fifty years and the more he talked the more I wiped away the tears.

The he said he needed to call his friend and he was sorry to have bothered me. I told him it was no bother at all., to call anytime and always feel free.

Quite a bit of time passed and I got worried about my friend, when out of the blue the phone rung and I heard those famous words, "Well I've done it again".

I tried to hold back my excitement and asked him how he'd been. He said he hadn't been doing to good and been staying with some of his kin.

"But I got tired of that ", he said "there's no place like home". "I needed to check on my friends, I've been gone to long".

"And I missed my church family and singing in the choir, I don't like letting the Lord down he's always been there".

"Through thick and thin we can always count on him, I don't know how people make it, hiding their light under a bushel and letting it grow dim".

Then he asked me how my garden was doing, I told him it was growing fine and maybe some evening we could come and get it about suppertime.

"That sounds good " he said "I'll take you up on it someday, I don't do much cooking anymore, I wind up throwing a lot away".

Then he said ",I better go and try to get a hold of my friend, he's probably worried about me to and wondering where I've been".

I hung up the phone and for some reason my heart laid heavy that day, but I went on about my business and pushed it away.

Then a strange thing happened, the most strange I've ever known, my brother knew him and he came in one morning and told me that Mr. Wade had passed on.

You could have knocked me over with a feather and my heart was broken inside. I could not for the life of me believe that Mr. Wade had died.

I walked the floor all morning, my tears continued to flow, my old friend was gone, no more phone calls would I know.

I was talking to God and thanking him for my good friend when the phone rung at ten o'clock that morning and I heard the words "Well I've done it again".

I was flabergasted and didn't know what to say, he said it instead "It sure is a pretty spring day".

I finally stopped trembling and asked him what was on my mind, "I heard someone passed away that lives close to you", I wanted it to sound kind.

He told me that was one of his neighbors that lived down the road and  the old feller had been sick for a while and then Mr's Wade's tears overflowed.

He said , "that could have easily been me you know, but when the Lord gets ready to call me home I'm ready to go".

We talked for a while and a lot of things we did share.That was a very special phone call from heaven and God answering a prayer.

After that the phone calls kept coming, wrong numbers and all and those wrong numbers were blessings from God , not small.

But all good things must come to an end, I got really worried and started calling, I figured he was staying with his kin.

But the Lord sent me an answer in his own special way, in the form of a newspaper that came one day.

I opened it up and was looking through when I came to the obituaries and there was Mr. Wade in plain view.

They'd even put a picture for me to see but I couldn't look at it much for the tears were flowing constantly.

My heart was broken, this time my friend was really gone. No more wrong numbers would I receive, and somehow I had to carry on.

Now each day I sit here waiting for the phone to ring, knowing fully well in heaven's angel choir, Mr. Wade loves to sing.

And he and his wife are walking hand and hand in that glorious place he called the promised land.

Those wonderful, cherished words "Well I've done it again" will sustain me through the ages---all truths to transcend. Friendship has no barriers---Love has no end..
      
                                        Susie Swanson, 2012

In Memory of my Beloved Friend Mr. Wade Bryant.....1909--2005