#vaxine

Vaxine

My Mom's best friend was a guy who's nickname was tiny. 

He was an honest to god hunchback. He was one of the last people in the US to suffer from polio. He got polio when he was around 3 years old and it warped his spine. 

Yes, just like quasimodo. None of his other features where misshapen, he was just really short, And the warped spine put most of his shoulders to one side and gave him a stoop.

I am pretty sure he had some form of engineering degree. He always working as a designer or problem solver of some kind. I remember that when I was a little kid, he worked at a toy importer in Portland, and we would visit him sometime, and he would always have a big box of toys that had failed inspection or gotten some damage in shipping.  

My Mom always said that tiny was the kindest person she knew. 

But He struggled with pain and depression his whole life. 

He ended his life a couple years after my mom passed away. 

I found out then, that when his depression got bad he would talk to my mom, sometimes for hours. Sometimes one call, sometimes multiple calls a day for weeks. 

My Mom had her own struggles from her own traumatic life. Apparently she was a lifeline for her long time friend. A life line equally as important as his own wife. 

At my mom’s funeral he gave me a leatherman multitool, the “squirt” model,  small, compact, very well built, essential stuff. That little thing bailed me out a couple times.