a true story

[wrote this story for class, thought i'd share]

I started working at a grocery store called Lee's Marketplace in North Ogden, Utah. My family had just moved from Virginia and I didn't know a single soul. People would come and go through my line, but this old man by the name of LJ became quite a familiar face to me within the first week. I saw him all the time. He'd come in every day, pushing his little cart, baby steps around the store.

Then one day he chose to come through my line to purchase his 1 little yogurt sitting in the center of his big cart. He placed the yogurt cup on my counter and said, "You must be new, I know all the checkers." I told him he was right, I was the new checker. Then he said, "You're not from Utah are you?" To which I replied, "I'm not, now how did you know that?" He looked at me seriously and then said, "Because of the way you do your hair." I just laughed. And from that moment til the next 4 months LJ and I became the best of friends.

His wife would drop him off every single day, 1 on the dot. He would stay til 3 o clock. He'd grab his little cart and take 17 laps around the entire store. Then he'd buy one little yogurt (sometimes 2 pieces of salt water taffy) and come through my line. I always felt so privileged that even if my line was the longest, he'd still wait and make sure he came through my line to see me.

On breaks we'd sit together and he would reminisce and tell me about life "back in the day" and back when "the world was young." He would tell me what he was like (he was quite a looker, he says) and all the lessons he learned in life. He would bring me presents through my line every once in awhile too. Whether it was a piece of chocolate, or a soda. For Thanksgiving I wanted to make something special for LJ. I made a turkey card with real feathers and wrote him a note inside about how grateful I was that we were friends. When he read the card he teared up and told me how happy he was that I called him my friend.

When December rolled around I had to put my two weeks notice in so I could return back to BYUI for winter semester. I told LJ I had to leave and he didn't like that one bit. He bought me some chocolates and wrote me a card and told me the only thing he wanted from me was a picture, "for my book of memories" he would always say.

The thing LJ didn't know was how much he had impacted my life. He really was my greatest friend that fall. I could always count on seeing his grouchy, yet cheery face everyday strolling through the stores, stopping to give each customer his professional input. I could always count on him coming through my line and checking up on me. I don't think he will every really know how much he meant to me.

A year later, my mom still goes in and shops there at that little Lee's Marketplace and she is always sure to say hi to LJ. He pulled her aside one day and told her how much I meant to him, how he missed me. I really had no idea that a 20-some-odd year old girl could mean anything to a 83 year old man.

The truth be told: friendships really do come in all shapes and sizes.