Guido my Imaginary Friend..

The other day memories came upon me of my beloved imaginary childhood friend. His name was Guido. I first met Guido when I was a little boy sitting all alone on a long branch up high in a Mango tree. I was sitting there when all of a sudden across me appeared a little boy with this big smile on his face.

From that day forward Guido and I always hung out together and became best of friends. The great thing about Guido, as we grew up together was, that he was always by my side in the most important moments of my life. Guido was with me during grade school, in my junior a senior years. During those years I came across a few bad characters, but Guido was always there by my side, just helping me stay out of trouble. I can recall my first job interview how nervous I was. Guido was there as always calming me down.

As I got older life became more and more hectic and Guido now stood more on the sidelines. Watching me on, but not so much holding my hand. In fact, some weeks he was no longer there till he disappeared all together.

One day I totally felt his absence. So I went to a bar where we use to hang out together. I even went to a favorite restaurant where Guido had been there at the time pushing me on to confess my love for the lady of my life. It got lonely not seeing or hearing from him. So one day I went to my childhood home, looked up at the old standing Mango tree with the hope of seeing Guido sitting on that long strong branch. But I realized and just had to admit that Guido was no more.

Not too long ago I was in Italy at this old open plaza just sitting there having a cup of coffee. Suddenly, at the far end of the plaza I could see movement of people and within the crowd was an older gentlemen. Dressed in white, wore a straw hat and carried a cane. He looked quite popular. As he made his way through the plaza everyone smiled and acknowledged his presence. The waiter stopped by my table to fill my cup with more coffee. I asked the waiter .. What’s going on ? Oh, that’s Guido. He is very popular around these parts.

I now had no other choice but to focus my attention on this man who they called Guido. As he came closer to my table I prepared myself to at least acknowledge him. Suddenly he was there with a big smile on his face. I smiled back, waved and said .. Thanks for everything, Guido. With a tip of his hat he said .. Glad I was of service. I smiled back knowing that my experience with that special presence that I knew as Guido had come full circle and it was time for me to turn the page on this old story and simply move on.