Friends

Many people have a circle of friends who they associate with. They meet up and do things together as often as possible. Maybe they're hunting or fishing buddies, or they might be fellow car enthusiasts they go to car shows with, or go late night street racing with. Over the years, I have had some of all these type of friends.
As the years have gone by, and family activities have taken their place, my circle of friends is almost non-existent. Outside of extended family, you could count my number of friends on one hand, and not use all the fingers.
In reality, I am a loner anyway, and that's how I prefer it. Outside of time spent with my wife and family, I'd just as soon be alone, doing my own thing. I can easily spend an afternoon, alone in my garage, playing my favorite music, and doing car stuff.
But of all my friends who have drifted away over the years, one stands out, and he is who I'm writing about today. His name is Ricky, and I mention him in Chapter 5 in my book. We have been friends for over 40 years. I don't see him very often any more, maybe once every couple years or so, we get together and catch up on what has been going on in our lives.  Out of the blue, a year or so ago, he sent me something he made for me, and it's really neat. It's an ink pen, that is the same color as my 2015 Mustang, and personalized with my license plate, and other automotive details. There is a photo of it below. Now, I take it to car shows with me, and show it off, especially to Mustang people. The mechanism to operate the pen looks like a shift lever, and there are bands around the pen that look like tires. Its pretty cool.
I don't have many friends, but with friends like Rick, I don't need many. Thanks Rick.

The pen my friend Ricky made for me. It's setting on my car, see how well the color matches.