Wednesday, November 21, 2012
This is a soliloquoy of the relationship between Ed and myself. The two of us grew up 2 doors apart, with one year difference in age. Our mothers, Eva and Julie were inseparable sisters, as the two of us were to become. Ed had polio as a child, missing a year of school. But, still we visited, though the contact waslimited due to the possibility of my contracting the disease. Ed eventually overcame his polio, although one leg was 1 inch shorter than the other. Our friendship grew as time passed. We spent every day in the summertime, going to the "woods" for "adventure", with Lassie, Ed''s Collie mutt, the best dog there ever was. From trapping of muscrats to chasing down groundhogs and skunks, Lassie was the best! Ed and I trapped snakes with a forked tree branch, and brought them home to scare our mothers on the porch. We were typical boys! Ed would catch lightning bugs, and when they lit up, squeeze them to keep the light lit, and paste them to his forehead. Then, he would hang upside down from a tree branch to scare passersby. One time, we found a hornet''s nest in a tree about 100 yds. from Ed''s house. We decided to pelt it with rocks. I went first, hit it square on; Ed went next, also hit it square. I had a headstart for home. Ed was behind, followed by a swarm of bees - they got Ed! There was another time where we found a vine over a 30 ft. ravine that we could use to swing across. I went first, and made it. Ed went second, the vine snapped and he fell 30 ft. to the bottom. He didn''t move! I went running to Aunt Eva''s house; when we returned to the ravine Ed was moving about in the ravine, although in pain. Ed survived. There was a time, much earlier when we discovered golf clubs, probably in 1st or 2nd grade. When practicing our swings with whiffle balls, Ed was watching my backswing ( too closely ), when I hit him square in the head on the back swing. He was knocked out, but he survived. We had so many good times on those summer idyllic days, growing up in the innocence of those days in the 50''s and early 60''s. Those were the days my friends, when we thought they would never end!
