Epochs of Epic Friends

I bit the bullet yesterday and agreed to accompany my wife on a trip back to my hometown so she could do some baby shower shopping free of the constraints of Taxachusetts. Of course that meant I got to hang out with my friends at Keene’s many fine establishments offering adult beverages. I therefore didn’t consume any ammunition because going back to Keene is one of the most enjoyable activities currently on my dance card. My wife was anxious to get an early start and somehow I got in trouble for delaying our departure even though she was the last one to get ready. Keene Friend is falling back into old ways of working on Saturdays but thankfully only a half day. My initial plan, once my wife dropped me off, was to tie Buddy off in the shade behind Keene Friend’s house and then walk around the corner to the neighborhood bar to await his arrival. My wife said this could be damaging psychologically to Buddy and refused to leave until I agreed to wait for Keene Friend with Buddy. Since I’m not brave enough to stand between my wife and shopping and Buddy can’t afford any more psychological damage I waited the fifteen minutes for Keene Friend to arrive.

My Friend and I Across the Street From Where we Met in Kindergarten in 1960

Keene Friend and I started out at the neighborhood bar, Penuche’s, which had a full vat of popcorn on hand. I’d been corresponding with another old friend hoping to link up with him during the afternoon as well. He was my very best friend from kindergarten through 2d grade and I was now sending emails to him literally across the street from where we met in kindergarten. I’m not sure what it says about Keene’s urban planning model to have a bar with a lot of “atmosphere” across the street from a grade school. This may explain my fascination with pubs given my early exposure to same. We’d drifted apart after I moved out of the neighborhood after second grade but stayed in touch as we graduated high school in the same class. That was the last time I saw him until 2014 when we ran into each other during an earlier pub crawl. Its testimony to the enduring quality of friendship that we picked up the long neglected relationship as if the intervening 42 years hadn’t passed. Unfortunately that earlier meeting was all too short and I was hoping to fully catch up with him yesterday.

Keene Friend Was With Us As Well

We had moved to the sports bar, Scores, by the time he finished up his mowing duties and he joined us. We spent a lot of time volunteering where the four decades apart had been consumed and I got the full rundown on where his large family ended up. It was interesting that we both ended up with jobs in transportation. He’s led a fascinating life that took him a lot of places but eventually led him back home to Keene where he recently became a grandfather. I certainly envied him the return to Keene and it was so good he was available to join what I hope is my continuing tradition of hometown thunder runs. We did feel a little dated at Scores where the high school we all graduated from was hosting a 30th reunion for a class that was in kindergarten when we graduated. Time does have this annoying habit of passing ever more quickly.

Wife Eventually Showed Up

Scores emptied out late in the afternoon as they prepared to host something called Keene Idol – some local version of American Idol. Since we all shuddered at what that would entail and it didn’t look like Scores wanted us as part of the crowd we decamped back to Penuche’s. As soon as we entered we ran into yet another high school classmate. It was somehow appropriate that he was my closest friend from my earliest memories until kindergarten. We grew up three houses apart until ending up in separate classes. He’s had a rough run of late as his marriage fell apart and he was diagnosed with celiac disease which caused a dramatic weight loss.

Skinny Friend Joins us for Wheelock School Alumni Party

Although he was skinny and a little worse for the wear of his recent struggles he was still the same friend. He and my other friend were pool aficionados and were soon dominating the pool table while Keene Friend and I observed from afar. They both dragged me into a pool game even though I warned them I was worse that useless with a pool cue in my hands. Its testimony to just how much beer had been sacrificed at the altar of reuniting with old friends that I allowed this travesty to be perpetrated. I was teamed up with my skinny friend and thankfully he was a real whiz. My first shot I missed every ball on the table. By the time I my turn rolled around again my teammate had cleared the table of all the other balls except the eight ball.  The cue ball and the eight ball were perfectly lined up so that even someone with my abysmal talent level could handle it, or so I drunkenly thought. I confidently strode to the table and promptly sank both the cue ball and the eight ball, losing the game. It was humiliating enough but both my teammate and my other friend (on the other team) saw me lining up the shot and were rushing to intervene when I made the ill-fated shot. I retired in shame only buffered by my earlier protestations as to my lack of aptitude.

Ending the Day Outside at Margarita's With the Cantankerous One's Re-Emergence

As the sun was setting my wife rushed into the bar proclaiming she was very hungry since she had blown off lunch in her shopping efforts. She met my friends which completed the afternoon for me. We said goodbye to my friends and headed downtown for a Margarita’s dinner. My wife had just parked the car when Keene Friend made a rookie mistake and pointed out that a nearby kitchen store was having some sort of sale. My wife’s hunger magically disappeared as she made a bee line for the store. Keene Friend shook his head in shame realizing what he’d just done. She eventually made her way back down Main Street to join us for dinner outside on a perfect summer night as the ebb and flow of Keene walked by. Halfway through the meal none other than the Cantankerous Friend himself walked up to join us. He had been running around all day squiring his parents and had just broken free. He’s been incognito of late having spent the last month down in Alabama for some work related training. I’m sure some semi-permanent damage to our relations with the South was perpetrated during his Southern sojourn.

It was good to have him back in the fold though and he immediately reminded us what had been missing from our lives during his absence. Both Keene Friend and I had enough liquid fortification to withstand his withering assessments and truly enjoy his company.

It was a very good day as I reflected that I had reunited with my closest friends from my earliest age (skinny friend), early elementary school (the new grandfather), late elementary school (Cantankerous Friend), high school to present (Keene Friend). Looking back on these various friend from different eras I couldn’t help but reflect just how blessed I’ve been. I certainly was yesterday.