Bernie & Gloria
I stopped at 7/11 the other morning for a coffee and when I saw the logo for the store on the coffee cup my mind drifted back in time...
...we were living in Largo, Florida.
Six kids in a rented house on a pond where we'd go fishing every day. It was 1974 and we were a handful for sure.
Mom and Dad went out one night and our babysitters were a black couple...Bernie and Gloria.
Bernie worked with Dad on the construction site and Gloria was his girlfriend.
As I looked at the 7/11 logo I thought of that evening.
Bernie had a real infectious laugh. I remember that.
I also remember thinking that black people were really cool.
The reason why I remember Bernie's laugh is because Corinne had yelled at one of us...she had called us 'pathetic.'
Bernie loved the word.
(It is a good word when used as a description).
Bernie kept making Corinne say it over and over.
And then there was the trip down the road to the 7/11 store.
It's all so vivid in my mind...40 years later...Bernie said we could all get something.
I bought baseball cards (of course). Everyone else grabbed candy.
Bernie paid the tab.
And then we all headed back to the house and handled our loot. I remember one particular card I got in the pack that caused Bernie to boom with laughter again.
"Who's this guy?" He asked as he held the card up for my inspection.
"Rico Petrocelli," I said...pronouncing the Red Sox 3rd baseman's name perfectly.
Bernie couldn't get over the fact that I could say the name.
For the next couple of hours we traded off P words in an attempt to get Bernie to laugh.
Corinne would say, 'Pathetic'.
I would follow with 'Petrocelli.'
It's amazing to me.
Bernie and Gloria must be about 70 years old now.
I wonder how their lives played out.
Just remembering a trip to 7/11.
...we were living in Largo, Florida.
Six kids in a rented house on a pond where we'd go fishing every day. It was 1974 and we were a handful for sure.
Mom and Dad went out one night and our babysitters were a black couple...Bernie and Gloria.
Bernie worked with Dad on the construction site and Gloria was his girlfriend.
As I looked at the 7/11 logo I thought of that evening.
Bernie had a real infectious laugh. I remember that.
I also remember thinking that black people were really cool.
The reason why I remember Bernie's laugh is because Corinne had yelled at one of us...she had called us 'pathetic.'
Bernie loved the word.
(It is a good word when used as a description).
Bernie kept making Corinne say it over and over.
And then there was the trip down the road to the 7/11 store.
It's all so vivid in my mind...40 years later...Bernie said we could all get something.
I bought baseball cards (of course). Everyone else grabbed candy.
Bernie paid the tab.
And then we all headed back to the house and handled our loot. I remember one particular card I got in the pack that caused Bernie to boom with laughter again.
"Who's this guy?" He asked as he held the card up for my inspection.
"Rico Petrocelli," I said...pronouncing the Red Sox 3rd baseman's name perfectly.
Bernie couldn't get over the fact that I could say the name.
For the next couple of hours we traded off P words in an attempt to get Bernie to laugh.
Corinne would say, 'Pathetic'.
I would follow with 'Petrocelli.'
It's amazing to me.
Bernie and Gloria must be about 70 years old now.
I wonder how their lives played out.
Just remembering a trip to 7/11.
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