Close friends

Gump had a ton of aquaintences.  For that matter, both of my grandparents seemed to know someone everywhere they went.  You could be in a Publix in Port Charlotte, Fl with them and someone my grandmother taught in high school 30 years ago would stop her to chat.  Gump and I were walking Warwick Hills during the Buick Open and someone from the Grand Trunk Railroad stopped us to chat.  He remembered Gump from his early days in the union.

I say acquaintences for a reason.  While he knew a ton of people, he kept just a few very close friends.  Growing up there was Leonard Lester Peck, who will always have a place in our family history from the legondary stories Gump use to tell about Leonard.  Those stories often involved Harold "Tink" Farnum, his cousin and life-long friend.  When I was a kid, his best friend was Kenyon Peabody.  I remember Kenyon well, mostly for teaching me a the little diddy;

I went up on the stage,
My heart when pitter-pat,
When someone in the crowd yelled,
HEY, 
That's Lingholm's little brat!


Without realizing it, I became one of his best friends too.  There is no seminal moment I can point back to as the moment I realized my grandfather and I were best friends.  It just happened.  One of Dale Carnegie's timeless principle is giving someone a good reputation to live up to.  Gump gave me the title Best Buddy and Number One Farm Hand when I was a surley teenager and I finally began living into that title.

While having coffee this week with a good friend, I realized just how much Gump impacted the way I view friends.  He was always genial with everyone and really enjoyed the company of several different people, as do I.  There was an inner circle of friends, people he trusted without many questions.  People who's counsel he would accept and appreciate.  People you could admire.  I find myself doing the same thing.


He was the best friend a guy could have and I am proud to have been in his company.