Six months ago I got an Evite to a party from an old friend of mine, Eric.

Nice guy, I knew him since high school, but not real well.

A bit of an outsider, not a great student.

I think we hung out maybe four or five times over the years.

I was a little surprised he put me on the list.

It was a housewarming party for his new apartment.

And in the Evite, he said,

instead of bringing food or drinks or a normal gift,

he kind of wanted everyone to stop by a thrift store

and spend no more than $10 on a piece of art that he could put up on his bare walls.

There was actually a thrift store right across the street from him to make it easy.

That was a cute idea, so I did that.

I made my stop and I bought the nicest thing I could find.

The selection was pretty dreadful for that money especially. So I show up at this

fairly scuzzy apartment complex and Eric opens the door and it's just this little one bedroom

place. He was waiting tables. He'd been drifting around for a while. Only about eight other people showed up to the party. Some I knew, some I

didn't. It was kind of a sad affair. It didn't last too long, but almost everyone had actually

been good enough to stop at the thrift store of their choice and give a shot to buying a painting

or a piece of art for the walls.

So he set all those out on a card table and he took a picture of them.

And the next day he sent that picture to all of us with his thanks.

And I figured I'd probably not see Eric again for a long time.

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