Fridays with Ed
A glimpse of grace from the barber's chair.
Bob Olson is a former skeptic and private eye who has investigated life after death for 27 years. He shares meaningful stories to expand minds, comfort grief, and uplift souls. He’s the host of Afterlife TV, author of Answers About The Afterlife and The Magic Mala, and founder of the directory of credible psychics, mediums, animal communicators, and intuitive practitioners, BestPsychicDirectory.com.
If you’ve ever read the book Tuesdays with Morrie, you know the power behind regular, periodic visits with someone special. In my life, I could write a fascinating book about my biweekly haircuts with my friend and barber, Ed.
Barbershops are a storyteller’s cure for writer’s block. I've often thought there ought to be a TV reality show based in a busy barbershop. The litany of characters who come and go from Ed’s place, with two floors and up to ten barbers, is a TV producer’s dream. Even during my brief moments there, I’ve returned home with interesting, humorous, and sometimes shocking stories to tell my wife, Melissa.
Ed, the shop owner, is half my age, but he has the maturity and insight of someone who has lived a full life and learned from the experiences behind him. He’s also the only barber I’ve known who tells his clients that he loves them when they leave. I’m not sure everyone gets this blessing, but I know I’m not the only one.
Two weeks ago, I showed up to my appointment a half-hour early. As I walked toward a comfortable, cozy chair, Ed greeted me as I walked by, and I looked up to see that he was cutting the hair of a twelve-year-old boy. I’ll call him Marshall.
This story is no longer available. It has been published in a new book titled: Insight from Hindsight: Stories that reveal what life is trying to teach you
Insight from Hindsight will be available September 2024 on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook!
Hi Bob-
First I want to say I love all your stories, but this one in particular touched my heart.
As I may have mentioned before, I too had a physically disabled son. My son had duchenne muscular dystrophy ( which he was born with, but wasn’t diagnosed until almost age 5) Kids with muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease, lack a protein which weakens all the muscles in the body over time. Most don’t live past their 20’s. Some are born with mental or cognitive disabilities as well as the muscle dysfunction, but my son wasn’t. He was extremely bright, actually an honor student! My son only walked until the age of 6-7, then had to use a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. My husband & I were his full time care- givers until about age 16 when we divorced, & things w/ his disease progressed & we needed more help. There is no cure, although gene therapy has recently become available.
Unfortunately, he passed away at age 23, almost 8 years ago. The heart & lungs have muscles as well, so they too become compromised.
We too, had given him a full, well lived life, amongst many obstacles along the way. We all remained positive & made sure we laughed everyday. Your point about people complaining about stupid things really hit home, because I would always walk away shaking my head when people complained to me over trivial things. Anyway me & him always had good laughs after leaving the barbershop where I took him. Although not as beautiful a place as the one u go to (wish it had been for his sake) nor did he have an “Ed” to cut his hair, we still were able to share some inside type jokes with each other after leaving. I still carry those memories with me & laugh & cry when thinking back on them. I miss him tremendously, & although don’t wish to die anytime soon….. I look forward to the day I do, so I can see him again.
This beautiful and heart warming story had me in tears the entire time I was reading it. Thank you so much for ‘that slap on the head’~ I am always grateful everyday but this definitely raised the bar! Again, as always, we are all so blessed with reading your articles each week. . . Always lin