I could tell by the things he was carrying that he was not a local out for an afternoon stroll. He was walking west on the opposite side of the road in the shade.
I grabbed my camera and went over to talk to him. I asked if he would come over to my side of the road where the sun would be better. The sun washed the photos a little .He said he was walking across America to bring awareness to
He showed me a very worn Minute Man registration card with his name and address. He was from Battle Creek, Mi. and his name was FRIEND WILKINS. He assured me that was his real name.
In the spring he had started in Nashville, Tn. and had walked to Texarkana, then went home for the summer. He had just arrived back in Texarkana to continue his trip to Gallup. It was his first day back on the road and was a little overwhelmed by all the traffic on US82. The Lone Star plant lets out at 4:30 and most people live in Texarkana, so he was greeted with wall to wall cars.
We talked a while and when it was time for him to go. I shook his hand and said, "Good luck, Friend". I know, I know, that was lame.
I update my "Sam's Fiero" link if anyone is interested.
6 comments:
You meet the best people! Just amazing the stories you have....fantastic :o)
I admire people like that man who believe in a cause and do something about it! It's great that you actually got to talk to him and take his picture.
Don't you suppose that Friend will meet many many people along his way? That would be one of the benefits, I should think, of walking across America (or anywhere, really).
He'll likely always remember you - and you him.
I'll bet that flag gets mighty heavy.
I hope you are having a nice week.
Thanks for posting this story, and thanks for bringing it to my attention.
I met this man in Paris, Tx a day or two after. He was very interesting and showed us the same ID and gave the same story. I will include a URL of a newspaper posting about him as well. His full name was Friend Shawn Wilkins and he also told my friend Brandon and I he was trying to prove himself to the US because they saw it unfit for him to be able to work. It was a long story but well worth it. I was sitting outside smoking a cigarette just now and thought about the day I met him for no reason and decided to put his name in google and see if anything came up and to my surprise it did. You don't meet many people named Friend.
Here is the url:
http://www.pharostribune.com/local/local_story_187231455.html
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