Well, here we are. On the left is Frank and Shelly, his daughter. On the right is Ron and Cliff. I had crossed paths with Ron and Cliff a few weeks back and we decided, since we could not remember when we did it last, that a lunch date was in order.
See, many years ago, in a land that time forgot, Kenneth and I had worked with Frank, Cliff, and Shelly who have an excavation and demolition business called Colorado Dirt Contractors. I think that was back in 1982. Frank's mom and dad were wonderful people and for a while we all attended the same church; Temple Baptist on Thatcher Avenue. I rented my home on Scranton from Frank, via his mother. I loved that little house. But, I digress.
The date was set for our outing and we agreed to meet at Papa Jose's at noon on Friday. Of course I arrived first, being the anal retentive that I am. I was amazed to see that none of these people had aged. Shelly tried to tell me she had, but I was not buying that. I was taken aback to learn that her "baby" was 24 years old. I do not know how that happened. I knew Frank's dad had passed many years ago, but I was saddened to learn his mom was in a nursing home. Last I knew she was still canning tomatoes in the back yard with all her daughter-in-laws.
As we all set there it was apparent that they all were on thier lunch hour from work, so I asked the question that was foremost in our minds. "Hey guys, remember when we were all together and we talked about how we would retire when we were 55 or 60? What happened with that?" Blank looks, everyone.
Then Frank said, "Well, we don't work very much. Just now and then. Mostly we set around and try to remember people's names, or something we did and wait for lunch time. Like, 'Remember Kenny Mercer? What was his wife's name?'" We all laughed at that.
I told them the last time I had seen Gene, another acquaintence of bygone days, he invited me to a barbeque and I told him to have his wife call me. That was right after Kenny passed. Still waiting for a call on that one.
Then we tried to remember the last time we had gotten together and found that one eluded us. I told them I had written a book and was going to have it published. Some one asked what it was about, but I could not remember. I asked about the wives and confessed that I probably would not recognize them if I saw them.
We discussed a former nemisis, recalled the junk equipment we had started out with and decided they had come full circle, once more tried to remember when we had last had lunch together and vowed to do this again very soon. As we said goodbye in the parking lot and tried to find our respective vehicles, I could not help but laugh. Here we are, a bunch of over the hill (Shelly excepted) friends who are still capable of being friends, and if they are like me, thinking of each other on a regular basis, but not bothering to do anything about it and then when we do, being very happy that it had happened.
I have known these guys since I moved to Colorado. Frank since 1979 and Cliff shortly thereafter. That is well over 30 years. Never had a disagreement with either of them. Like their wives, care about their kids and in-laws. Just never bother to keep in touch. Is that the mark of an enduring friendship, or what? I think so.
The last thing Cliff said was "Hey, Lou! Let us know about that barbeque." I stopped in my tracks, dumbfounded. What was that all about? And then I remembered about Gene and realized that maybe we were not as forgetful as we thought we were, or at least Cliff was not!
So, guys, I look forward to our next meeting, when ever and where ever it may be! My regards to the family!
No comments:
Post a Comment