Chapter
#8 The Wish
Way back from ages 19 to 34 I carried the mail for the Postal Service. My
regular mail route, which is also ironically my real estate farm area, was in a
middle class neighborhood in Granada Hills, California. It was the
"old fashioned" type of route where I carried a leather satchel on my
shoulder and delivered mail directly to the front doors of each of the 350
homes. With the same route for fourteen of those years, I got to know
many of the people on the route quite well. In many cases these people
became good friends. Later when I became a Realtor, many of these same
people from the mail route sold their homes through me. In addition,
many grown-up (former children) from the route bought their very first homes
through me.
When making my daily rounds there were many people I looked forward to
seeing each day, for they were always friendly, warm and positive. On the
other hand, some people were so negative that I wished I could completely avoid
seeing them. They were mad at the world, and believed they were victims
of everything.
One
delightful man who always had a kind word to say was elderly cowboy Joe Walker.
(At least he looked and sounded like a cowboy). Joe loved to tease me about any
number of things he could think of. Everything he said was always with a twinkle in his eye. When
it was 100 degrees outside he always had a cold drink waiting for me. He
was someone I truly looked forward to seeing each day. In our
short meetings, we often shared what was going on with our families, and
sometimes commented on current news events.
In 1973 I proudly told him my wife Nancy was pregnant. Our first and only
daughter Kim was born that October. In December Joe surprised me with a
Christmas gift for Kim, a baby dress. From that point on, every December
Joe had a gift for Kim who was always excited to open it. The gifts were
always fun and thoughtful. There were a few times that I brought Kim out to
proudly walk the mail route with me. After about an hour, Nancy would
always pick her up when she became bored and tired. One day she was
actually able to meet Joe Walker and thank him for his past generosity.
Joe then took a photo of Kim and kept it.
A period of time passed where Joe was not out to greet me each day. When
I finally saw him again he looked sickly and frail. He told me that he
had cancer, and that he was not going to let doctors poke him and prod him
anymore. Each day when I would make my rounds Joe tried hard to be
friendly and positive. Unfortunately the cancer was progressing rapidly.
He
always found time to ask about Kim. He mentioned that he also had a
granddaughter named Sheila who was about Kim's age.
He
said, "Wouldn't it be great if Kim and Sheila could meet and become
friends?" I didn't give it much thought since the girls did not live
near each other, and went to different schools.
They cancer finally took Joe, and his daughter Marita and granddaughter Sheila moved
into Joe's home with his wife Evelyn.
Kim
attended school at the local Granada Hills Middle School. One day she
went to her best friend's home after school.
The
two girls looked at a family photo album. To both of their amazement, the
album contained a photo of Kim from many years before. Both girls were
extremely puzzled. When Kim came home and told me about it, after
discovering who her best friend was I realized that Joe Walker's wish for Kim
and Sheila to become friends had really occurred. I was in awe.
Almost 30 years later Kim and Sheila are still good friends. Kim is
co-writer of this book. She is also the Confidence Expert on the Lessons
From Network, TV host, TED-X speaker, life coach, multi-award winning speaker,
and #1 Best Selling author of "Getting Your Life To A Ten Plus".
Sheila and Kim still share stories about Joe’s wish coming true for them to be
friends.
A
SPECIAL LETTER FROM EVELYN (2014)
"Thank
you Mike for remembering Joe in the book you and Kim are now writing. I was
surprised and appreciated how accurately you recalled Joe. He would be
very proud that you remembered him as a cowboy. He was born and raised in
Montana. Although he left there and joined the army at 17 and made it his
career, he always kept his roots in Montana.
He always had a true interest in you and your family. He was the one who
went shopping for and wrapped the package for Kim every year. I'm sure
Joe knows that Kim and Sheila became such good and lasting friends.
I'm so proud of all that
Kim
has accomplished. She has always been like another granddaughter to
me. Thank you again."
Evelyn
Walker
