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.