As required, I made every conceivable effort to properly recognize the arrival of the first Friday of the Week yesterday. I met our new cross-the-street neighbor by way of learning he has no idea how to drive a large truck. I watched as he took nearly ten minutes to back his U-Haul into his driveway. A few minutes later, he and his mother, rang my doorbell to apologize for driving up onto my grass and leaving a large depression. He seemed like a really nice young guy and I knew he had a hard day ahead of him, unloading the truck. Having moved a couple dozen times over the years I come by that knowledge honestly. I told him not to worry when he offered to repair the divot and I had it fixed within ten minutes. Still, very nice of him to offer. My Favorite Panamanian came home later and when I told her about the meeting she asked if I had offed to help unload the truck. After a millisecond thinking about it, she burst out laughing. We both know the body, and especially my right knee is now beyond that kind of effort. Like I said, we both know what the unloading entails, all too well.
That wasn’t my Favorite Panamanian’s
only bizarre statement of the day though. I’d been telling her all week that I was
taking her dancing Friday night at the Auburn Legion Hall. She and the Neighborhood
Mafioso were out on one of their pillaging (I mean shopping) expeditions, when
my wife called to say I should call the mafioso’s husband to invite him to go
along with us. When they returned a couple hours later, she came in and said, “You
didn’t call him, did you?”. She rightly guessed there was no way I was calling another
dude to go dancing. Thankfully the mafioso was able to convince her husband to
go along with us and we had another very good time, despite some seriously
subpar musicians providing the dance music.
A Very Fun Table Last Night
Dance Floor Last Night
We had just sat down at the club when I
received a video call from a completely unexpected source. He was my XO
(executive officer) when I was a company commander in the Old Guard in the mid-1980s.
We’d stayed in marginal touch over the years since and I’ve always counted him
as a true friend. He got a late start in the fatherhood game as he was a serios
ladies’ man in his early years. He has a teenage son now who is something of a
lacrosse prodigy leading to a tournament trip to the east coast (Maryland) and
a reunion with another lieutenant from that Old Guard time. Since they were together
on a Friday evening, somehow their thoughts turned to me, and hence the phone
call. It was so cool talking with them both after so many years. We’re going to
have to find a way to accomplish a more in-person reunion, but it got the night
off to a spirited start, ghosts of Fridays past.
My Caller (L) and I, Back in 1985
As I said above, the music group wasn’t
very good but that didn’t daunt the assembled crowd who regularly populated the
dance floor. As I’ve stated before, it’s kind of cool being on the younger side
of the age range of the place (any place nowadays for that matter). The Neighborhood
Mafioso and her always way too funny husband, provided their usual quotient of
laughs and comradery through the very fun evening. One cool moment happened
during the band’s break. An elderly gentleman went up, sat at the keyboard, and
entertained the room with a mini-concert for the entirety of the break. We were
sad to see the band return and for his time at the keyboard to end. He was so
much better than the band. He left to thunderous applause from the room. 
Unexpected Mini-Concert Last Night
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends
of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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