Listen: http://www.jimreedbooks.com/mp3/bradburychildren.mp3
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I suppose the friendships you establish in childhood and young-adulthood are the most loyal and enduring of all friendships. But sometimes you don’t become aware of this fact till fifty years or so have whizzed past. Even then, friendships, by their very nature, are things you tend to take for granted—which means that when you are reminded that these friendships continue unabated, you appreciate them even more.
Take last Wednesday morning, for instance.
First email I see at the office comes from Pat Bleicher, in Arlington, Virginia. She’s known me since Second Grade and has accepted me, warts and all, in the six decades since then. She is the first to tell me that the best of all possible writers, Ray Bradbury, has died at age 91. She knows that Ray was my mentor and hero and role model and muse, and she sends me a long distance comforting pat.
Next, a phone call from Myra Crawford, who has known me since 1969 and, like a true friend, simply puts up with me to this day…and on this day she tells me she’s sorry that my friend has died. That’s all she has to do to make the friendship last the rest of my life.
Then Big Sister Barbara Partrich sends an email to comfort me. She’s only known me since the day I was born.
Then, I hear from June Cunniff, who met me in the 1970′s; Joan Dawson, who’s known me for decades, and so on.
Donn Albright, Ray’s bibliographer and archivist, drops me a note to say he’s leaving for L.A. immediately—that’s where Ray lived.
By the end of the day, lots of other folks have sent me smiles, since it would be against all things Ray Bradbury stood for to make this a tragic day. I hear from Chervis Isom and Irene Latham and Allen Johnson Jr. and Liz Reed…and then I lose count.
During the week, other customers who love Ray’s works come in to purchase his books and say something about his influence on their lives. The children of Ray Bradbury always come together at moments like this.
Once, when I was listening to Ray field audience questions during a conference in Atlanta, a young fan stood and said, “I know you once wrote that you would live forever. Do you still believe that?”
Ray answered, “Now I know that I will live forever—I have grandchildren!”
And now I know that I will live forever, too—I have friends who remember me at just the right moments in my life.
And, like love, I know that friendships last beyond death, always find a way to thrive, somewhere in time
(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed
