By Dave Markwell

Last weekend, my daughter informed me that she was going to see a movie with her friend, “Becky”, and would need a ride Saturday evening. Now, the only surprising element of this exchange was that “Becky’s” name was in it. A few months ago, “something” happened – the details of which I was not enlightened to and my girl and “Becky” stopped hanging out. So, I was a little taken-aback when informed that she was back in the picture.

Asking my daughter if she and “Becky” were friends again, she gave me a side-eyed glance and little smile and said, “We’ll see.” Ha! I chuckled and shook my head. I know my daughter and I know she is a tough nut to crack. She’s stubborn and opinionated and doesn’t suffer fools or drama. But, I was glad she loosened up a bit on “Becky”. She’s a nice kid and though I don’t know the details of the “falling out”, I know that my girl can hold a grudge over un-grudge-worthy indiscretions. But, she’s often right, too, so I trust her judgment on these things…mostly.

Following the movie, I picked up my giggling, smiley, fourteen year old little lady and was happy that some fence appeared to have been mended. I understand the value of friends, even ones which occasionally piss us off. These may, in fact, be my favorite friends. Often, the source of any ill-feelings created is actually the truth. And, sometimes the truth sucks. But, having friends willing to risk telling a hard truth are good folks to have around. I have a bunch of truth-tellers in my life (maybe too many…) with whom I am also free to tell the truth. These are the best people to have in life.

Driving by my buddy, Nick’s, house the other day, I saw his truck parked near his garage with a big tarp draped over the open hood has he worked in the rain to fix a problem. Later in the day, I drove by again and his truck was now parked at the end of his driveway facing the opposite direction. He was outside, so I stopped to see what was up.

He told me a high-pressure oil sending unit had failed and he fixed it. Then, the new one failed, too, but he coasted home-backwards- thus his unusual driveway positioning. The hood was up again and he had a set of portable stairs set up so he could climb into the engine compartment to work. It was beginning to rain again and some oil was leaking on the driveway.
Nick recently had hip surgery and was limping around grabbing tools. When I asked him about repairs, he simply said, “Well, I’m just going to limp my way to my stuff and fix it.” He was smiling and carrying the wonderful and rare energy which few and maybe only Nick possesses. His words stuck with me as another truth: Life is a lot of fixing things, sometimes with a limp. Having people around us that do these things and still smile in the rain are good people to have, too…

[EDITOR’S NOTE:”Feel Good Friday” is a regular column written by area resident Dave Markwell, whose first book is called “A Feel Good Life” (buy it on Amazon here). He also runs the Waterland Arcade, located at 22306 Marine View Drive South. Dave extols to all neighbors: “Enjoy where we live. Put your feet on the pavement and truly feel how great it is to live here!” Also, Dave desperately needs more friends – find him on Facebook here.

Scott Schaefer

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...