My Buddy, Eddie

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This is a photo from about 15 years ago.

I haven't changed at all, huh?

My buddy sent it to me and I spent a lot of time looking at it because it's a shot of me and a lifelong friend of my grandfather, my father, and my brothers too. Eddie was an institution around the little town I grew up in and we shared a lot of stories through the years.

Every now and again I get an envelope of old newspapers sent to me about stories Ed and his own beautiful wife, Barb think I might like to see.

And having a friend that has been kicking around awhile means a lot to me because he has a treasure chest filled with memories.

"What was my Dad like as a kid?" I asked Eddie one time.

"About like you'd expect," he answered.

But I was looking for more. I wanted to imagine Dad in his first car, or on the streets.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He was f*&$ing nuts," he answered.

We both laughed.

Yet Ed was able to fill me in on the old baseball stars as they passed through North Collins and particularly my Dad's cousin, Marion Fricano who played in the MLB.

So I took a good look at the old photo.

My hair was dark...

...and on my head.

We were both smiling.

I could almost imagine the dirty jokes flying back and forth.

Memories.

Hopefully we both have about 50 more years to continue to make them.

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