The door bell rings, I dash to open it and there he stands; tall and lanky with his wide brim cowboy hat and a wound-up lariat hanging over his arm. I greet him like money from home, drawing him inside. His shy cowboy grin, his hat tipped sideways and tilted a little to the back.
"I was hoping you would come", I smiled.
I would lead him toward the kitchen and pour him and me a cup of coffee. We would settle at the kitchen table.
Will would teach me to swing a rope and he would play on my computer. We would laugh about Congress.
"Newt who?" he would ask. We would cry about the Kennedys.
We would buy all of today's newspapers and visit the Smithsonian on the internet. I would try to explain Elvis and the Beetles and play their tapes.
"Can you stay?" I would beg.
He would smile at me and spin his rope; "I miss the world" he would tell me". "And we miss you", I think to myself.
"We went to the moon and Mars in next! We can gamble almost everywhere!" catching him up on the news.
I would call his friends for him and cook bacon in the microwave. Soup would be simmering on the stove because some old ways are better.
Will would tell me how Abraham Lincoln is doing and how much Abe likes Martin Luther King. "They talk a lot", Will says.
He would chuckle and explain how Socrates, while we're sleeping, whispers wise advise in our seemingly deaf ears.
"Yes" Will would say, "They're all upstairs and they manage to keep busy. "Einstein teaches" he adds.
