Bob CollinsIt’s hard to say for sure why Boyd Huppert’s story of Emmett and Erling struck such a nerve with most of us when it first aired a few years ago.
Sure, the story of a three-year-old boy striking up a close friendship with an 80-something neighbor was a great human interest story. But there’s still something more there; something unspoken in all the attention it received.
Maybe it was because we identified with the quiet old-timer who turned out to have a heart of gold. Maybe it was the idea that some sentimentalities men have are never uttered. Maybe it’s the idea that we long for the innocence we had when we were three. I don’t know.
It’s going to lead to a different story now. It’s the story of how a young boy learns a lesson. Our old friends die.
Erling Kindem, World War II vet, good neighbor, best friend, has died, KARE 11 reports.
