This is What Friends do.

Along time ago, more years than I like to consider, I was sitting at home bored out of my mind. My mother, tired of hearing me whine about having nothing to do said, "Why don't you go to your friends house and do something?" A few minutes later I was on my bicycle riding over to my friends house.

I arrived in time to see him leaving on his bicycle. He stopped and we talked for a few minutes. I asked him, "What are you doing, do you want to go down to the pond?" He said, "I am going to the stamp store." Looking at him like he had a third eye in the middle of his head I said, "What is a stamp store and why would you want to go there. We can catch frogs and crawdads down at the pond." It was a few minutes later that I found myself trailing behind him, shaking my head and mumbling, "Stamp Store, never heard of a stamp store."

Well, I am sure you can guess what happened. I went through the door and entered into a land of wonder. Distant countries, ancient ruins, historical figures, exotic animals and assorted treasures were at my fingertips. Before I knew it my friend was nudging me and saying something about lunchtime. My allowance for the week was spent, I did not want to leave as there were many more treasures waiting to be discovered. We left the stamp store, rode back to his house, ate lunch and sat around comparing our purchases. We traded a few stamps and then he showed me his stamp album.

From that point I was hooked. Nearly every Saturday morning you could find me and my friend down at the stamp store, spending our hard earned pennies and dreaming of owning some of the pricy items on display. This was more than 50 years ago. Can I forgive my friend for cursing me with the "stamp collecting bug?" You bet, and to this day I thank him expanding my limited exposure to the world around me through the hobby of stamp collecting.

One Saturday Morning

As a nerdy kid, about 11 or 12 years of age, I spent many of my Saturdays at the stamp store going through the penny, nickel and dime stamp selections. The owner of the store recognized me as a frequent visitor and greeted me with his usual head nod. I was a kid and he was busy helping an older lady. There were a few other "old" people in the store. They were busy looking at material way beyond my 50 cent allowance.

I went straight to the large carton of penny stamps and was soon absorbed in searching for treasures. I was completely oblivious to what was going on around me. My hunt for undiscovered treasures continued uninterrupted until I noticed the background conversation in the store had stopped. I looked around, my eyes focused on the owner of the store and the older lady. She was holding a tattered collection of stock pages.

I overheard the owner state, "I am sorry, I have no interest in purchasing those stamps but the rest of your husband's material is of interest" The older lady asked, "What should I do with this then? Is there anyone here who might be interested in these stamps?" Of course, the other advanced collectors shook their heads and returned to their research, I had already buried my head in the penny box and continued my search.

Suddenly, to my utter surprise and horror, I was hugged by the old lady, a stranger to me. She placed the tattered collection of old stock sheets in my hands and said they were part of her husband's collection.

I was speechless, here were stamps that a young collector only dreamed of possessing (a penny red, stamps from the Australian states and exotic colonies of British Africa). Of course, they were all common stamps with little value but they were treasures to an 11 or 12 year old collector. I stammered my heartfelt thanks for the unexpected gift all while trying to escape from the hug of an old lady who was not my grandmother. You know the reaction a young tween boy has to public displays of affection, let alone one from a strange old lady in front of all the "old" collectors. I will never forget that day, I still have many of those same stamps in my collection today.