Don't know if that is the right title,
Drop In, Drop Out. I was thinking today of different people I
knew at one time, and we dropped out. That is they went one
way, I went another. We lost touch. It is kind of sad
the number of people I once knew, and have lost touch with for some
reason or other. You may have the same feelings also.
People move, people stop coming by or
something happens. They were here one day, and then are
gone. Kind of like the old great all time movie, Gone With The
Wind. Some you know are moving, and you get to say "so long"
while others are just gone, and you really don't know what was the
last time you saw them. Things do happen you know.
I remember so many people like that, here
today, and gone the next. In a person's life time there is countless
numbers of people you have known. I was thinking today of a doctor,
he was the doctor that did the surgery on my eyes. I was with
him for at least 30 years. I got to know each of the Dollies that
worked in his operation. Some came and went, but there was
always a smooth change of one now and then. I asked one
about that one day. Why did after so long of a time there seem
to be one no longer there? She said well it had to do with
nursing, some felt like a change was good, while some just
like working for the man. He was a card at times. He
said he had to work hard to make them girls a job. Then one day I
walked in and everyone was new to me. Old Doc had turned the
place over to a new doctor. New doctor had his own fleet of
Dollies. I lost the whole mob in that deal. I never got to
say, "so long." It wasn't the same place anymore.
Oh, it was same building, same rooms, but different Dollies,
and it just wasn't the same. The old Dollies knew me, called me by
first name, the new ones do that mister stuff. That young
whipper snapper doctor says mister also. Makes me feel old you know.
People drop in, and drop out of a person's
life. Where, when, and why years later gets a person to
thinking. What ever happen to what was that fellow's name?
Even years later, it gets to be hard to remember even a someones
name you knew quite well 20 or so years ago. I can remember
the face, the little funny thing they said, and the way it was said,
but what was the name? They just was here, and now gone.
I remember when there was a Gambles Store
here. I knew every one that worked there, by name. They
all made it over to the old Burwood Cafe, for coffee, rolls, and
some at noon for dinner. I still see the faces, but names, no.
I remember when some moved away. It was kind of sad to say,
"so long." Never seen or heard of them again. Sometimes I
wonder what ever happened to them.
I remember mother telling of girls she
grew up with, down in the sticks of Thayer, Missouri. I know
she kept track of a few for a time. Then the letters stopped
going back and forth. She said she wondered if Rose Lee had
died, she had no way of knowing. Maybe Rose Lee thought
my mother had died. People drop in and drop out.
Yes in a person's life countless numbers
of people drop in for a time, then drop out.
You know I heard from a Dollie today. I
thought she had got tiffed about something. It had been
days since I heard from her last. I thought she had dropped out.
I was about ready to cry.
Bill Walker
missourisage@yahoo.com
Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5
