Boyhood Friends

We'd make our plans on the school bus while riding home at the end of the day.  Bob and I got off at the Honor Roll bus-stop between Brighton Heights and Crescent Heights.  We would agree to meet there after checking in with our moms and changing clothes - which usually took about fifteen minutes. John and Larry went a half-mile further to the Stuber road bus-stop.  We all convened at Larry's as soon as possible to take full advantage of whatever sunshine we had.

Larry's neighbor (a doctor) had an old, unused tennis court that became our football field.  It was usually Bob and me against John and Larry.  We had a variety of rules that we incorporated into our self-devised game of 'Razzle-Dazzle Drop Football'.

The game consisted primarily of passing;  however, if the pass was incomplete, the other team got the ball wherever it hit the ground.  It was a fast, back-and-forth game that kept things exciting.  We loved playing football and lamented when it was time to end the game and return to our homes. Bob and I would walk down Mercer Road talking all-the-way (occasionally getting distracted by climbing the huge sycamore trees along the way)!

Eventually, we'd switch over to basketball - often playing on the tiny court behind Bob's house on Crescent Heights.  Bob and I frequently continued playing well after dark with the help of a spotlight on the back of his house!

I grew up with these three guys.  There were occasionally others who joined us, but we four had a special friendship that bound us together.  Bob was best man in my wedding, and Larry was one of my groomsmen.

In the summer, we had sleep-outs.  Occasionally, we caroused the neighborhood in the dark, evading automatic lights and swiping a tomato from a neighbor's garden.  I remember one night when we walked out Mercer Road several miles - diving for cover if a car came either way.

Summers also gave us opportunity for bike-hikes.  Usually this meant going far out Stuber Road.  One time we followed an old dirt road and dropped down into Eastvale.  After we discovered this destination, it was just a matter of time before we continued down through Beaver Falls and crossed the 10th Street bridge to return to our homes!

I can remember twice when Bob and I rode our bikes to Darlington Lake.  I don't think our mothers knew we did this!  It was a great place to swim because it had a huge sliding board that dropped into the water!

The leisure season also gave us opportunities to explore the woods behind Brighton Heights.  We hiked up to the 'Indian Caves'.  We built forts and played army. We caught lizards and crabs in the creek.  We hiked down to the Beaver River and then walked the tracks back into town where we'd get a milkshake at Isaly's.

In the winter we would sled-ride on Valley Avenue and lob snowballs from Brighton Heights down on cars traveling up Mercer Road!

Those were fun and free days!

However, our lives changed a bit as we entered junior and senior high school. New friends were developed and our relationships gradually became a bit more distant.  We still occasionally had classes together.  Bob and Larry had engineering prospects;  I took every math class NB offered - just to be with them.  They pulled me through with barely passing grades!  Ha ha ha...   Larry ended up being the valedictorian of our class!  My claim to fame (and reason for being at the head of the procession) was due to singing a solo at our commencement:  "No Man Is An Island".

However, throughout most of those years we continued our friendship by sharing the New Brighton High School 'open-lunch-period' by hitting the Brighton Hot Dog Shop!  Those were the days when three hot dogs, a fry and a shake came to $.95 with $.05 tax;  so, for a buck we had an awesome lunch!  :-)

But life moves on...

I did have the opportunity of marrying Bob and his wife some years later.  I also stopped to visit Larry in his law office one time, but we didn't seem to have anything to talk about.  It's sad that these wonderful friends have not been a part of my adult life, when we shared so many fantastic times together as boys!

I don't know where they are today or what they're doing, but I hope their lives have gone well.  I hope they're happy and fulfilled! I valued their friendship and we shared dreams and fantasies together while having tons of fun!  If I could, I'd thank them for their friendship and the memories we made together!  I'd also pray God's blessings on their lives!