national friendship day was July 30, and today is August 16, so i am only a few days overdue, but i would like to tell the story of how i met my neighbor Dennis.
i had just moved into the neighborhood; new job, new city, and nobody but me, myself, and i. after my first week at a new job, i decided to make it a tradition to go to the Denny's restaurant every Saturday morning. i finished my grand slam and went to the front to pay. i went to reach for my wallet, and to my surprise i had forgotten it. while i had beaten the breakfast rush at first, but now the breakfast rush had arrived and let me tell you, they were hungry. the herd of angry Denny's restaurant patrons waiting for their chance at a grand slam shouted at me. i will never forget some of the lines i heard echoing through the Denny's restaurant: "arrest him!", "take his shoes, shirt, and watch!", "you will burn in hell!" however, the one line i will never forget for the rest of my life: "i will pay for it." just as i'm having my own "all is lost" moment, someone comes in for the rescue. that someone happened to be my neighbor Dennis. i kindly thanked the gentleman and asked if there was any way to repay him. Dennis looked me in the eyes and replied, "no, just call me Dennis." i shook his hand and the entire lobby of the Denny's restaurant began to chant, "Denny's Dennis."
it wasn't until about two months later when we both happened to be checking our mail at the same time when we discovered we were actually neighbors. i have never repaid Dennis for that grand slam, but i did lend him some of my gardening tools and have never seen them again so i figure we're even at this point.
