The Muse is Loose

I was casually watching A&M give the Longhorns a drubbing in basketball when the phone rang. "Do you know who this is?". I did not have a clue. I took a quick guess and it was wrong.
"We went to Ouachita together". I answered, "There were several people there back then". Finally the answer, "This is Bill Arrington.". Say no more. This was a Ouachita suite-mate and fellow Redshirt (a social club since no fraternities were allowed on the Baptist campus). Bill was a year behind me. We went to summer ROTC camp together at Fort Benning. He was a star athlete at Ouachita and is in their athletic Hall of Fame. He became a colonel in the army reserves and was a teacher in the University at Monroe, Louisiana for more than thirty years.
We had not talked with each other for more than fifty years! We have not seen each other since the summer of 1954.What a treat it was to renew a friendship after more than half a century. We must have talked a half hour or more. Bill closed by saying, "I will call you again.". I never asked him what inspired him to call after all these years, or even how he knew my phone number. It really doesn't matter. The fact is this old friend called me. In a day and time when phone programs allow "free" calling in the evenings we ought to be doing more of this. To think we are but a number and a few buttons from dear friends of the past! I resolved I would try to do what Bill had done for me. It meant a great deal. Maybe it would mean that to someone I might call. Let's see," Who owes me money?" Just kidding!