Years ago three of us rented on Border Avenue ; a
house for each of us on the same lot. We
were in our twenties. Judy lived with
Bill in a back house. Bill was a strange
guy she hooked up with and later dumped.
That was a good thing. Leslie lived with Dennis in the other back
house. Dennis is an ex who has long
since disappeared from our world. That
was a good thing too. John and I lived
in the front house and had our first son Jay.
We were all broke, surviving on communal dinners, card games, music and
hanging out in our common yard. We had
more dogs than we should, a vegetable garden, and BBQ pot lucks every
weekend. Other neighbors on the block would
join us: Joe and Alice, Teri and Jerry,
Beverly and Richard, and “Old John”, a man who lived next door and loved to be
around young people. Although we were struggling financially, we were rich in friendship.
One Thanksgiving each of us had
plans to do the cooking. Family and
friends were invited, turkey’s purchased and pies were baking. It made no sense to have a three separate Thanksgiving
dinners so we did the only thing that made sense. We moved the furniture out of my living room,
rented tables and chairs and had a combined Thanksgiving dinner. It was an odd combination of people. The Monsignor sat next to a very drunk friend
who passed out in his plate. Bill went
out for a turkey pan but never returned.
Leslie’s parents and my parents came from the corporate world, while we
were more into the Flower Power 1960s approach to life. So Let it Be – Live and Let Live. It was a memorable holiday.
John and I lived on Border Avenue for five years before
purchasing the home I still reside in today.
Judy met Larry while on vacation and married
him. They moved to Trabuco. Leslie married Ron and moved to Orange County Alice in 2006 in the Dollar Store. Joe passed.
Somewhere around 1990 Jerry died from complications of back
surgery. Although I think Teri lives
just a couple of miles from me, we lost touch.
After moving, I had two more boys,
Brendan and Kevin. Leslie had a girl, Dana. Judy had a baby boy, Max and
almost immediately twins Sara Lee and Alex followed. Life takes over while raising children and
managing jobs and careers but during the early years, I would drive to Orange County
Although Leslie and I see one
another only a few times a year, we remain friends. Judy drifted from the bond we had
formed. Leslie and I missed our friend
and we would reminisce on each occasion we got together. When John died ten years ago, Leslie called
Judy to give her the news. Judy didn't
show up for the funeral or make contact after that. I'm sure she had her reason. It was our last contact.
So, here we are. It’s Labor Day and we are together at my mountain home for a relaxing weekend. I
hadn’t seen Leslie and Ron since the first of the year when we met for a ski weekend. We are
a little wrinkled. The children are
raised. We are retired and
Social Security has kicked in. The years
have ticked along and we are still wondering about our third partner, Judy. Two thirds never makes a whole. What happened? Leslie dialed her old phone number. It is disconnected. Have we totally lost contact with her? It’s time to put this behind us and renew our
friendship. We break out the IPad and
begin the internet search. Facebook? No luck.
Google? We found a phone number
for Max; disconnected. We find Larry,
but there is no number. We found Sara’s
number and we connect. Judy died in
2008; Lung Cancer.
Judy, Leslie and I had a unique experience in
our life that bonded us together. Only those who were part of the Border Bond would completely comprehend it. In the end, life took us in different directions. I miss my friend. A chapter in life has come
to a close only opened by memories. So
many of the people I cared about and counted on during those Border years are
gone; Jerry, Old John, Joe, John and now Judy.
Life is short and unpredictable.
I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye. This journal is as close as I can get ….
Goodbye my dear friend.
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