Bernie & Gloria

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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.

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