A Heavenly Conversation

As I groggily began to reach for my phone, which would not stop ringing, I opened my eyes with hopes of being able to focus enough without having to find my glasses to see who the heck was waking me up from a nice, sound sleep.

I for one have never enjoyed being rudely interrupted from a sound sleep for nearly anybody, unless of course it would be a family emergency or something.

But as I brought my phone toward my face, my eyes managed to focus enough to see the phone number originated from somewhere in Minnesota and the name attached to it was Frankie V.

Now I was intrigued indeed because the only person I have ever known with the name of Frank was an old buddy from high school days.

As I reached for my glasses while also pushing the button to answer the phone call and put it on speaker phone, I answered.

“Hello,”

“Hey is this Bill, my long-lost buddy from Minnesota?” the voice asked.

Before I could respond he continued, “Is this the friend I tried to teach to drive a stick shift with my old green Ford Pinto, only to have you prop it up on a tombstone in the cemetery where we were driving?”

“Holy crap, is this really you Frank?” I responded in sheer disbelief.

“You bet it is,” he replied with a notion of pure cheer in his voice.

“How long has it been since we’ve talked or even saw each other my friend?”

“Don’t know, maybe since that unfortunate first wedding you had or shortly after that,” Frank answered.

“My goodness, I have thought of you often but lost track of you years ago after you moved to somewhere in Wisconsin. Are you back in the Gopher State?”

“I worked for IBM for over 30 years, so yes – right back in the area sort of, as in Rochester,” Frank noted. “How did that first marriage work out I think I heard it belly flopped?”

“Yes, it did, but not about me,” I replied knowing I would rather hear about him. “What have you been up to my friend?”

“Sorry buddy, first I want to let you know I am doing well and have thought about you often too. How is the old health doing as I heard you had a massive heart attack back in 2012, that had to have been scary.”

His comment about my heart attack caught me off guard a bit since I had not talked with him in over 40 years.

“Oh, I am doing okay between my heart and lungs I don’t get to do much these days,” I responded. “How did you know about my….”

Before I could finish, my friend Frank continued, “I understand you have a good gal now to take care of you which is good since you haven’t been able to work in several years, plus it makes me feel good that you finally found love like you had for that high school sweetheart of yours, Betsy. And that puppy you have running around the house, great idea as he will be your best friend forever – I know I have had three dogs in my life, and nothing was more sincere and loving than those puppy kisses.”

Now I was confused, he even knows about my dog.

“Hey look, I don’t the opportunity often enough to chat like this directly, so I just wanted you to know that I have missed you my friend and am now eternally grateful for the friendship you gave me back in those high school days in Minnesota. And you know, some of our adventures have made great stories for the newbies I greet when they arrive at the doorstep of my current destination.

Promise me one thing Bill, please hug those you love every day and give to those in need or hurting, you will be eternally grateful for doing so.”

“Of course, Frank, we shared some great moments and some moments of teen-age mischief, but how do you know so much about me?”

As I spoke my question, I heard a click with a light humming noise coming from my phone and realized that the line of communication had gone dead.

I immediately tried my to return the call several times, but much to my disbelief – each attempt at calling back that I made went immediately to a message stating that this number does not exist and in not in service.

I just sat there on the edge of my bed for a few moments trying to comprehend what just happened.

It was a phone call that woke me up.

It was most definetly a phone call from my best old buddy Frank as I remembered his voice and yes, I did crash his Ford Pinto into a tombstone at a cemetery he took me to so I could try and learn how to drive a stick shift.

Wait a minute, maybe I am still sleeping, and this is all part of a dream.

About then, my puppy Frosty Lou jumped up on the bed and gave me a big, slobbery kiss on the cheek. He was letting me know I was fully awake or maybe he needed to go outside to pee or something.

I took a couple of deep breathes and proceeded to stand up and begin walking through the house toward the kitchen to get a quick breakfast,

I knew that after I had put some food into my system that day would not be going anywhere until I try to figure out how to get back in touch with Frank.

As I sat at the table eating my usual multi-grain toast with peanut butter and a sliced banana with some orange juice, I began to wonder about what Frank was saying.

How did he know about my marriage of 29 years and how the heck did he know about my dog?

As I finished up my breakfast, I headed to the computer determined to track my buddy down and find out just what was going on.

While the computer powered up, I began to think of a one of those adventures that Frank and I shared, like the time we were going to go to my house only to discover that my folks were home from vacation a couple of days early and were unloading the car.

Since we were smoking a joint, I ducked down in the passenger seat while reaching over to grab Frank’s right knee and push it down so the car would speed by the house. One of the great lines from that incident came the next morning when I was eating breakfast and my mom asked me if I was with Frank the night before. I said no. She told me they were pretty sure his car went flying by the house while they were unloading their stuff, just wondering.

There were so many other stories to remember, but the computer was up, and it was time to figure out what is going on with Frank.

As I put his name in the search engine, I took another deep breath before plucking the enter key in hopes that I would find my best old buddy Frank.

Boom, there it was, my worst nightmare of an outcome regarding my old buddy.

I stared at the computer screen for a long moment because I was sure my heart and mind did not want to truly read what it was saying back to me.

The first listing for my old buddy Frank was an obituary.

Nothing in me wanted to pull it up and read the truth of the fact that my old buddy was dead and had been for several years, in fact way back in 2012, just a couple of months before my brief visit with eternity when I had my heart attack.

But there it was, the fellow I was talking to on the phone briefly just an hour earlier has not existed in human life for nearly 10 years.

The sad part was, I did not know. No matter how often I thought about my old friend, I never pulled the trigger and worked at tracking him down, now I so wish I had.

It read he died of a type of leukemia at age 55, while also talking about how he spent so much time giving back even while trying to survive his three battles with cancer. He was active in his church, directing a thing called Christmas Anonymous to help those in need, helped coordinate a toy drive while also taking time to mentor other cancer patients and survivors.

Frank was every bit the good guy he was when we ran together in high school, and it made me heart feel good to know he had a strong marriage and some loving children.

As I sat for a moment to comprehend what I had found and read, my thoughts went back to the brief conversation on the phone earlier and some of what he said.

Those last few comments were now beginning to haunt me just a bit as if he was giving me a hint of what I would find if I went looking for him.

When he noted he didn’t have the opportunity to chat like this directly, did that mean he had been in contact with me in other ways and if so, how?

Boy did I feel like a goof for now catching the comment ‘now eternally grateful’, I didn’t think twice about it because I constantly tell folks I am eternally grateful for them being part of my walk of life. Today, Frank told me that literally.

The entirety of that brief, one-sided, conversation earlier now came to light and for those who have doubts about a possible afterlife, I have but one answer for you – believe. Believe in angels because that is the only way I believe Frank knew about things in my life, especially in the past 10 years without him having some heavenly knowledge or communication.

Taking another very deep breath, I made one major promise to myself – that I would always hold my friendship with Frank dear to my heart and would always remember to do what he said and that would be to daily hug those you love and take care of others.

I heard the front door opening and realized my wife was home for her lunch break, I immediately walked up to her, gave her a big hug, and told her how much I loved her and was eternally grateful for all she does for me.

She gave me a weird look and asked if I was feeling alright?

I simply said, “Yep, everything was just heavenly.”