Meet the Marlboro Man
For Rob - some things I never say out loud and some things have to be said because someone else needs to hear them.
"Some People feel the rain....others just get wet."
~ Bob Dylan
This is a story that is very near and dear to me; it gets me emotional. It reminds me that timing is everything. It's about a sincere gift of hope from one of the most honest men that I know on this entire planet.
Some people ask me about them; others simply respect my privacy.
I wear two identical rings on either hand. Both on my ring fingers. It has been mistaken and misinterpreted that I am married, which I am not.
My friend, Nick, whom I call the Marlboro Man, gave me these rings about four years ago.
The rings spin and have three things written on the bands - BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH.
Nick gave them to me, and told me that they symbolize HOPE. That they are for the days when things weren't going right; when I'm not sure what I'm doing or why I'm doing it.
He said they would line up whenever I was helping someone who needed me, teaching them to still BELIEVE in things, showing them that people can still TRUST other people, or simply quietly waiting with them to rediscover their FAITH in themselves, love or life.
"It's how you will know you're in the right place, Cupcake. The one on the left is yours, the one on the right belongs to the person who needs you." He said, as he gently placed each ring on my finger. His worn hands, rough and leathery were gentle, and his touch as soft and kind as his deep blue eyes.
We met at a time when neither of us knew we were gonna need each other so much; His wife had recently passed away, and I was still licking my too fresh divorce wounds. His nephew, Wade introduced us, and he instantly welcomed me into his family.
Marlboro Man (Nick) says I remind him of his deceased wife Oliva, whom he fondly refers to as Livvy. "She was spunky like you. Nothing got in the way. She was hard to catch and keep. But I got her eventually." He says, chuckles, lights another cigarette, and then tugs on the chain around his weathered neck, where two identical rings like ones he's given me hang.
He continues after what seems on his face like a hard thought to put into words. He points his nicotine yellowed finger tip at me, the cigarette still clenched between them and says
" Losing your love to death, like mine or to divorce like yours, steals our thunder, humbles us into knowing we can't control the universe even if we think it's ours to control. You follow me Cupcake?" I nod. "The place where the pain begins is the place it always ends..with you....Find YOU, get back on the horse and keep riding. Keep the good memories for when you need them. Lose the bad ones."
I always say that I got the better part of the deal. He always says "Friendships that know what they have, never let go."
The first time he said that, I must have looked at him funny because he added, "Opening yourself up to let someone in, to simply trust someone, especially after a tragic incident in your life, is a condition that we, as people, haven't been used to for so long, it's damn near a lost art form....just an old cowboy's oh two."
Standing in front of him then was a feeling of pure presence that I cannot easily shake and one that I will never forget, like meeting the ultimate role model.
When Nick first handed the rings to me, and I attempted to accept them, palm up waiting...he snatched them back quickly, and it reminded me of the Hobbits, in the Lord of the Rings..This man was bestowing me with the power of these 'precious' rings. As he placed them in my up turned palms he said "Be a good steward over what you've been given. It's what's in your heart, at your core, that's pure gold. Not much else matters."
Cheers until the next adventure!!!
Copyright 2014 - Noelle Sangster/Sangster Entertainment LLC - All rights reserved
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