Bench Buddies

Mike and Maureen were siblings they were not just brother and sister they were each other's life line for when they needed to make those tough life decisions. They had been each others best bench buddy since childhood, they always sat on the side of the kitchen table with the bench and would always have each others back. Whenever they have or had a large decision to make they knew they could call the other and gain a different perspective for what they were trying to get done or just a confirmation of their own ideas on the subject. This was the premise Maureen presented to Mike when they decided to leave their current employers and form Bench Buddies Counseling services.

Both of them had achieved some level of success in their chosen professions. Maureen had been a school teacher for over 30 years and Mike was a chef in a cafe outside of town for as long as he could recall. For the longest time, they have had co-workers, friends and even some family come to them with in their own world a HUGE problem. Some of these “problems” were just a person needing to vent and air some frustrations to an independent ear. Other times it involved one of the BB's to do some research and even in some cases they had offered a loan to their client (interest free of course) to help alleviate their situation.

Neither Mike or Maureen were trying to make a huge profit on their services. The had no staff to pay, very few overhead costs, they were just looking to help their community in any way they might be able to. Day 1 came and they opened the doors with 2 small offices, some mismatched chairs, 2 small desks, some mismatched chairs and one little black book to track appointments, assignments and anything relevant to their current or past cases. They were proud of what they had started and now were eager to help their neighbors.

What they had failed to do in their previous careers was to write down or make note of their countless hours and cases they had accomplished before opening their business. The paperwork side of things was neither or their strong points Maureen and Mike just loved helping out their family and friends. They received payment of course, but compared to the feeling they got when they came across them days, months or even years later that in of it's self felt like getting paid all over again.

Well now it is 10 years later and early December, and a new year was just around the corner for the for the Bench Buddies. They still loved what they were doing for their small town and were thrilled to go to work each morning. Generally when the daily mail came in it was Maureen who would grab it, organize it and open what needed to be opened. Well on this particular morning, they received a package from the office supply store, providing them with a new little black books for the upcoming year.

Mike was sitting at his desk, and Maureen tossed him his own black book, and they both vowed to do a better job of this year than they had in prior years of recording clients, dates and times. When the book struck the desk, some paper popped out of the pages of the book. Mike looked at the paper expecting it to be some kind of advertising for the little black book company, but was truly shocked when he saw what came out of the book.

Maureen could see his reaction and could only say “What are you holding I did not get one of those”. Mike still flabbergasted just reached across and showed it to Maureen. In her hand now Maureen had a check in the amount for $20,000 made out to Bench Buddy Counseling services. Now both of them at a loss for words, could not figure out where or

why this world come to them.

It was a cashiers check, so the only clue to whom it came from would be in the signature. They both looked at it and looked at the name on the check. It said J. Sprinkles. In the memo section it said Thanks for believing in me.

Maureen and Mike looked at one another and neither could ever remember someone with that name in 10+ years of business. They researched it, they looked through every page of 10 years worth of black books and could not find anyone by that name. The $20,000 was a huge amount of money and they knew they had never ever given out a loan of that size. Cashing the check was not necessary to keep the business running, so they locked it into a drawer until they could figure it out.

A few weeks later they drove with their families to a reunion in Maine. Seeing all the cousins again brought back so many memories and it was such a blast for them all. This was the small town Mike and Mo had grown up in and the night before they left they took a walk through the town looking at the old businesses and remembering all the towns landmarks and places of interest. Before they returned home they decided on getting an ice cream cone, and took a walk over to the ice cream shoppe.

Mike opened the door and read the signage J.S. Ice Cream Shoppe established 1970. Mike looked and pointed Maureen to the signage and they both knew instantly where the $20,000 had come from. They got their cones and left gaining knowledge and having to make a phone call when they got back to their office tomorrow.

The next day arrived and armed with this news they looked up the number to J.S. Ice Cream Shoppe corporate offices to make their call. Mike called and asked to speak to Mr. James Sprinkles please, put on hold he was surprised when a female voice came on the phone and said she was the lawyer representing Mr. Sprinkles estate and how could she be of service. Mike explained all the circumstances, from knowing Jimmy since they were both in 3rd grade and until the day the check arrived in the mail months before and now just calling to ask Why and What do I do with it?

Jimmy's lawyer just spoke and said “Well, you and your sister were quite the inspiration to Mr Sprinkles, and he spoke of you often and how you both and your Mom, inspired him to open up his ice cream shoppes.” She continued, by saying “Unfortunately Mr. Sprinkles passed away and he wanted to repay that inspiration and loan to you and your family, you see as he told me many times your Mom gave him .50 cents for a cone of ice cream one summers day all those years ago and he wanted to put those speckles on them and your mom's answer was they are whatever you want them to be Jimmy Sprinkle”.

Maureen had been listening to the entire conversation as well and it gave her that feeling both she and Mike knew all too well. The Best Buddy feeling, the one you get when you know you are doing the right thing and they both knew then that the check was going to go to a great cause.

They donated half of the check to The American Cancer Society in honor of their Mom and Jimmy. The remainder of it went to high school youth and businesses to assist any and all people to dream the dream, reach for the stars and be a BEST BUDDY to someone you meet.