‘Dear Friends’ is a collection of diverse short stories, set in different locations with an array of interesting characters. Despite the diversity, author and retired pediatric intensivist Greg Stidham ties these stories together with a common thread. They all involve well-developed characters, most of whom are not perfect, but who persist in striving to be better. In the process, they discover through mostly chance encounters the redemption possible by even short-lived (or sometimes longer) relationships.
For example:
A middle-aged man with a slowly progressive neurologic disorder embarks on a long, overland bus ride to a small town in North Dakota. On the way, he befriends a quirky, young woman with problems of her own.
A young mother loses her young toddler son in a tragic drowning incident and struggles to recover. She undergoes grief therapy, but mostly begins to heal by persistently pursuing her own way.
A young, intellectually challenged man volunteers to collect donations for the Salvation Army at Christmas time. While he jingles his belt of bells, he also astutely observes the customers entering and leaving the liquor store before which he sits.
An older man is awakened by bizarre sensations he does not understand, only to discover that when he awakens in a hospital, he has had a seizure. While hospitalized, he meets a kindly Irish Catholic priest, which leads to an improbable bond.
A teenaged boy is suddenly orphaned and goes to live with relatives in a small, Colorado mountain town. There, he begins a job helping to care for a man, who is dying from cancer. The two develop a quietly growing relationship, and the boy discovers that the man is a well-known poet.
These stories are poignant, provocative, sometimes humorous. But, they all address, directly or obliquely, the magic that can happen when two people, even strangers, connect on a deeper level than is usually the case.
