Doc Holliday, Piglet, and a Phone Call Out of the Blue

A friend of mine called me out of the blue. We worked together years ago. We started families about the same time and have seen each other change and evolve over time. We both started out relatively skinny and athletic, transitioned to dad-bods as our kids grew, and now have lost a few pounds and are trying to find a comfortable in-between. He knew that I’ve had a tough couple of weeks with work and home and wanted to check in on how I was doing.

I was touched.

Image by Pexels.

We talked for forty minutes. We easily could have talked for another hour and forty. When we were done, my friend sent me the clip from the 1989 movie Lethal Weapon 2 where Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is trapped on his toilet rigged with a bomb. Mel Gibson’s character, Detective Martin Riggs, puts his own life on the line helping rescue Murtaugh right before the toilet erupts and destroys the bathroom.

Of course, my friend wrote that if I find myself sitting on a boobytrapped explosive, I should forget about calling him. “If something like that happens, please lose my number, Brian. I like you all, but I’m not crazy like Riggs,” he wrote.

Nice friend, right?

Lethal Weapon 2 – 1989

The Ride-or-Die Friend

The out-of-the-blue call got me thinking about the ways we support each other in society. We have the pranksters like my friend. There are also the ride-or-die friends like Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone. Holliday is gravely ill and dying of tuberculosis, but he doesn’t hesitate to leave his bed to help his friend Wyatt Earp.

After facing down a violent gang, one of the Deputy Marshals asks Holliday why he isn’t in bed. Actor Val Kilmer, who portrayed Holliday in the movie, dryly says, “Wyatt Earp is my friend.” The deputy replies, “Hell, I got lots of friends,”to which Holliday snaps back, “…I don’t.”

Tombstone – 1993

The Fierce Protector

We look to protect those we love. We do that in many different ways. We work to secure their physical safety, health, and financial future. We watch out for them. We plan for emergencies. We buy life and long-term care insurance. We surprise them with their favorite coffee to help them get through their day.

But sometimes, protecting someone requires raw, fierce instinct, and we even act out of character to shield them from further pain.

In the British psychological thriller Apple Tree Yard, rape victim Yvonne is coldly told the “realities” of her chances of getting justice in court. Her image consultant questions her failure to report the assault immediately and points out the lack of visible bruising, suggesting she didn’t fight back.

Her husband, Gary, snaps, holding a knife to the man’s throat. “There’s a part of your brain,” he says, “the amygdala, telling you to do whatever you need to do to survive… drowning out your cerebral cortex, your logical brain… afraid for your life, we’re programmed to do whatever will ensure our survival, and sometimes, that’s nothing.”

Apple Tree Yard – 2017

The Truth-Teller

Sometimes, true support means having the humility to admit when we are wrong, stepping up to validate the person we love when they need it most.

In the movie The Help, Charlotte Phelan admits to her daughter, Skeeter, that she was wrong to stand in the way of her ambitions, offering her full emotional backing just as Skeeter is about to take a massive leap of faith.

“Skeeter, do you have plans tomorrow?” she asks. When Skeeter says no, Charlotte says they’re going shopping so that Skeeter has a dress for her new job in New York. “Courage sometimes skips a generation. Thank you for bringing it back to our family.”

The Help – 2011

The Silent Anchor

And sometimes, support doesn’t require a grand gesture, a fiery defense, or a speech. Sometimes a friend is just someone who sits with us… through the thick and the thin.

God bless friends like this.

Winnie the Pooh

Two Peas In A Pod

Whether they are sitting quietly beside us like Piglet on a difficult day, standing up for us like Doc Holliday, or texting us from a safe distance to ensure we aren’t currently sitting on a rigged toilet—that unexpected, out-of-the-blue support is exactly what keeps us moving forward.

Here’s to the friends in our lives. What friend are you most grateful for today?