Music really is the best thing in life. It inspires you, drives you, and keeps you company during the darkest moments of your life. Just recently, music helped me reunite with an old friend of mine. And he wasn't just any friend, he was my childhood best friend. But thins went rough along the way.
To make the long story short, this friend of mine and I fought over a girl I thought was in love with me. He thought she was in love with him and everything got so muddled that we drifted apart. Well, to be completely honest, it was more that we cut ties off each other. It's too awful when you see your significant other cheat on you. But it's a gut punch to see that it's your best friend who she's cheating on you with. That sort of betrayal, at least for me at the time, called for an end to a lifelong friendship. And what's worse, the feeling was mutual.
Now, I'm all alone, but not necessarily lonely. My wife, unfortunately, had passed on. My kids are all grown up and they've moved to all sorts of places to live out their dreams. From time to time, I still get to see them. But on most days, it's just me, my dog Chester, and no one else. Out of loneliness, I'd often go to a nearby record shop to listen to the music I grew up with. I never really bought anything because listening to the at-home will just make me feel even lonelier.
But to my surprise, one of the records I'd regularly listen to, a Grateful Dead album, was bought by someone new in town. This depressed me a little. I know that record was never mine (even though I could have bought it, but it still felt like someone stole something precious from me. One day, the store owner, who's a good friend of mine, pointed out the gentleman who bought the album. Lo and behold, it was my old ex-best friend.
Around the time we ended our friendship, he and his family moved to a different state. That was why, even though we wanted to make up, we never really got the chance to. But apparently, fate had other plans for us. Our first meeting after decades of not speaking to each other, we shy talked to one another. I told him why the Grateful Dead album he just bought was important to me, and then he reminded me that he, too, was a huge fan of the band. It was one of these things we bonded over when we were young.
To make the long story short, again, we finally reconciled and now, I'd often visit his house with his wife and we'd spend hours catching up and listening to Grateful Dead. His granddaughter lived with them and, touched by our reunion, she sent it as an entry to a Grateful Dead fan club contest. To our complete and utter surprise, she won! And the prize? Posters signed by the band members themselves! It was one of the greatest gives I've ever received in long time!
So now, I'll be forever grateful to Grateful Dead for having been the rock of my friendship with my best friend. Thank you for helping us bond when e were kids and for reuniting us now that we're old men.
Please note: Our inventory is limited as we may have only received a few posters in total. Most of our items are obtained from film premieres, studios, and from autographed hounds such as the one in the story above.
