In memory of Brian Doyle
A friend of mine died much too young. He was known for making contented grunts whenever something pleased him, which a mutual friend described, perhaps because our buddy was also a hirsute fellow, as Mama Goat Hmphfs—the sound made when nuzzling her kids. I often think of our deceased buddy this time of year because he loved the magic of Christmas.
I had to visit a certain warehouse-type store on the day before Christmas Eve, which was one of the last places I wished to be on God’s green Earth, surrounded by granite, steel, gaudy holiday wares, and exhausted employees, with everything bathed in a hellish glow of overhead fluorescent light. But over by the shiny red display of Christmas cards was a goateed gentleman, probably in his sixties. His hair was gray and thinning, and his clothes were a little rumpled. There was nothing unusual or striking, though—nothing that would make you stop, especially if you were trying to buy the batteries for your kid’s present and get the heck out of there.
Except he was making the Mama Goat Hmphfs! I just happened to hear him as he opened a card, read the inside, then carefully returned it to its rightful place. He grunted down the row of cards, clearly enjoying himself. I wondered who he was shopping for—a partner? Friend? Sibling? Child? I thought about sticking around to find out which one he finally selected. But I had to go.
And now that I’m writing about him, it’s actually better to hold that image of him, for aren’t we all searching? Some of the magic is discovered in the simple pleasures that find us along the way, even stumbled upon in unlikely places.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of “Little Big Moments,” a collection of mini-essays about parenting, and “Tigers, Mice & Strawberries: Poems.” Both titles are available most anywhere books are sold online. Taylor-Troutman lives in Chapel Hill where he serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and occasionally stumbles upon the wondrous while in search of his next cup of coffee.
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