[00:00.00 How do you feel when old friends are far away?

[00:05.30]Do you make an effort to keep in touch?

[00:09.67]Somethimes it is easy to put off writing a letter,

[00:14.63]thinking that there will be plenty of time tomorrow.

[00:19.59]But then sometimes,as this story shows,we leave it too late.

[00:26.44]Perhaps reading it will make you want to reach for your pen.

[00:32.31]ALL THE CABBIE HAD WAS A LETER by Foster Furcolo

[00:38.56]He must have been completely lost in something he was reading

[00:44.93]because I had to tap on the windshield to get his attention.

[00:50.86]"Is your cab available?"I asked when he finally looked up at me.

[00:57.21]He nodded,then said apologetically

[01:01.88]as I settled into the back seat,"I'm sorry,but I was reading a letter.

[01:08.73]"He sounded as if he had a cold or something.

[01:13.48]"I'm in no hurry,"I told him. "Go ahead and finish your letter."

[01:19.36]He shook his head. "I've read it several times already.

[01:24.66]I guess I almost know it by heart."

[01:29.21]"Letters from home always mean a lot,"I said.

[01:34.07]"At least they do with me because I'm on the road so much."

[01:40.02]Then,estimating that he was 60 or 70years old,I guessed:

[01:47.28]"From a child or maybe a grandchild?"

[01:52.14]"This isn't family,"he replied."Although,"he went on,

[01:58.10]"come to think of it,it might just as well have been family.

[02:03.85]Old Ed was my oldest friend.

[02:08.21]In fact,we used to call each other 'Old Friend'-when we'd meet,that is.

[02:14.97]I'm not much of a hand at writing."

[02:19.42]"I don't think any of us keep up our correspondence too well,"I said.

[02:25.48]"I know I don't.

[02:28.72]But I take it he's someone you've known quite a while?"

[02:33.68]"All my life,practically.We were kids together,so we go way back."

[02:40.44]"Went to school toghether?"

[02:43.60]"All the way through high school.

[02:47.37]We were in the same class,in fact,through both grade and high school."

[02:54.34]"There are not too many people who've had such a long friendship,"I said.

[03:00.19]"Actually,"the driver went on,

[03:04.16]"I hadn't seen him more than once or twice a year over the past25 or 30years

[03:11.32]because I moved away from the old neighborhood

[03:15.76]and you kind of lose touch even thought you never forget.

[03:21.53]He was a great guy.""You said 'was'.Does that mean-?"

[03:28.80]He nodded. "Died a couple of weeks ago."

[03:34.36]"I'm sorry,"I said. "It's no fun to lose any friend-

[03:40.81]and losing a real old one is even tougher."

[03:46.46]He didn't reply to that,and we rode on in silence for a few minutes.

[03:52.91]But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again,

[04:01.06]almost more to himself than to me: "I should have kept in touch.

[04:08.03]Yes,"he repeated,"I should have kept in touch."

[04:13.36]"Well,"I agreed,"we should all keep in touch in with old friends more than we do

[04:20.21]But things come up and we just don't seem to find the time."

[04:26.06]He shrugged. "We used to find the time,"he said.

[04:30.79]"That's even mentioned in the letter."

[04:34.94]He handed it over to me. "Take a look."

[04:39.41]"Thanks,"I said,"but I don't want to read your mail.That's pretty personal."

[04:46.17]The driver shrugged. "Old Ed's dead.

[04:50.90]There's nothing personal now.Go ahead,"he urged me.

[04:56.46]The letter was written in pencil.

[05:00.41]It began with the greeting "Old Friend,"

[05:04.98]and the first sentence reminded me of myself.

[05:10.33]I've been meaning to write for some time,

[05:15.06]but I've always postponed it.

[05:19.01]It then went to say that

[05:23.68]he often thought about the good times they had had together when they both lived in the same neighborhood

[05:30.74]It had references to things that probably meant something to the driver,

[05:36.67]such as the time Tim Shea broke the window,

[05:42.33]the Halloween that we tied Old Mr.Parker's gate,

[05:47.98]and when Mrs.Culver used to keep us after school.

[05:53.44]"You must have spent a lot of time together,"I said to him.

[05:58.40]"Like it says there,"he answered,

[06:02.37]"about all we had to spend in those days was time."He shook his head: "Time."

[06:10.63]I thought the next paragraph of the letter was a little sad:

[06:15.88]I began the letter with "Old Friend"

[06:20.55]because that's what we've become over the years-old friends.

[06:26.90]And there aren't many of us left.

[06:30.87]"You know,"I said to him,

[06:34.53]"when it says here that there aren't many of us left,that's absolutely right.

[06:41.48]Every time I go to a class reunion,for example,

[06:46.60]there are fewer and fewer still around."

[06:50.96]"Time goes by ,"the driver said.

[06:55.32]"Did you two work at the same place?"I asked him.

[07:00.18]"No,but we hung out on the same corner when we were single.

[07:05.74]And then,when we were married,

[07:09.27]we used to go to each other's house every now and then.

[07:14.94]But for the last20 or 30years it's been mostly just Christmas cards.

[07:21.29]Of course there'd ve always a note we'd each add to the cards-

[07:27.24]usually some news about our families,you know,

[07:32.60]what the kids were doing,who moved where,a new grandchild,things like that-

[07:39.86]but never a real letter or anything like that."

[07:44.72]"This is a good part here,"I said.

[07:48.87]"Where it says Your friendship over the years has meant an awful lot to me,

[07:56.32]more than I can say because I'm not good at saying thing like that.

[08:02.59]"I found myself nodding in agreement.

[08:06.71]"That must have made you feel good,didn't?"

[08:10.95]The driver said something that I couldn't understand

[08:16.27]because he seemed to be all chocked up,

[08:20.43]so I continued:

[08:23.80]"I know I'd like to receive a letter like that from my oldest friend."

[08:29.65]We were getting close to our destination so I skipped to the last paragraph.

[08:36.21]So I thought you'd like to know that I was thinking of you.

[08:41.48]And it was signed,Your Old Friend,Tom.

[08:47.12]I handed back the letter as we stopped at my hotel.

[08:52.06]"Enjoyed talking with you,"I said as I took my suitcase out of the cab.

[08:58.51]Tom?The letter was signed Tom?

[09:03.79]"I thought your friend's name was Ed,"I said."Why did he sign it Tom?"

[09:11.94]"The letter was not from Ed to me,"he explained.

[09:17.17]"I'm Tom.It's a letter I wrote to him before I knew he'd died.

[09:24.74]So I never mailed it."

[09:28.58]He looked sort of sorrowful,

[09:32.66]or as if he were trying to see something in the distance.

[09:37.70]"I guess I should have written it sooner."

[09:42.06]When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpack right away.

[09:48.62]First I had to write a letter-and mail it.

[09:55.17]cabbie\be lost in\windsield\cab

[10:08.73]available\apologetically\or something\go ahead

[10:21.48]know by heart\ estimate\ might as well\ not much of

[10:37.41]keep up\correspondence\practically\kid

[10:46.79]all the way\ neighborhood\sort of\lose touch

[10:57.74]a couple of\guy \tough\on one's mind

[11:07.90]keep in touch\come up\shrug\urge

[11:17.93]postpone\reference\absolutely\renion

[11:28.54]go by\hang out\every now and then\mostly

[11:38.57]awful\ choke\ choke up\ destination

[11:48.83]skip\ sorrowful\ in the distance\ unpack

[11:59.86]right away