Little Ole Lady... News & PewsThese past weeks, two of my good friends have died, and I was not there to show my love to their families. Ann Prothro Goldsmith was my first neighbor when I moved to Manning in the late 1950’s. I lived in the corner of the curve on Brooks Street in a home called the Floyd House. It has since been demolished. Ann’s mother came to call and in the course of conversation came the two questions always asked in those days:” What was your maiden name, and where do you go to church. “Ann was an accomplished musician and we had many good talks. She also played violin and she demonstrated that. We both participated in the community choir ensemble. She could also lay a brick wall and lay tile in her house. The one thing I will always remember, is the afternoon she was sitting outside and I walked over to enjoy some conversation. Her phone was ringing off the hook, and she calmly ignored it. I asked if she wanted me to run inside and find out who it was, and she said ,”No, my friends know I don’t want to be disturbed during this time. If it's someone other than a friend, let them call back.” She was different, quick tongued, and smart. When she read my first printed book, she called and said, ”It was a good book. It made me cry.”My other friend who I lost was Dr. Bill Holmes. There will be torrents of accolades given this fine minister of the gospel, but I remember him for a little inside story. When he first came to the church I attended, I visited his office and offered my help to him or any member of the church for whom I could run an errand. He answered that I could do him a big favor…sewing a black button on the bottom of his clerical robe. I seized the opportunity, and was overjoyed each Sunday as he entered the pulpit to know my button was on the bottom of his robe. We had many good conversations in his office, and when he retired he gave me an entire set of Bible commentaries. I shall always remember his soft voice, his remarkable sermons, and my little black button on his robe.To my two friends I offer this:The tears slide softly down my cheekUnbidden, unwanted, uncalled for, even.After all, it’s just “goodbye.”Not earth shaking, world shattering.But the dismay still shows behind my eyes.Is it just “goodbye”?Heart’s home. Wise people, my accessTo the wider world. They are all of thisAnd more. And so farewell to them.But there is farewell to me also,There is a hole within my heart.For there is more involvedThan just “goodbye”.My world has grown smallerThere is an empty place in theCircle of shared hearts.Until they take me with themInto the consciousness of space.There is no “Just goodbye”.
