Where Are They Now?

I was walking through a park area near the Syracuse University Campus. 

It reminded me of ‘The Green’ which was a park in New Haven, Connecticut near Yale University.

I worked near there in 1988 and would sometimes have lunch in the park.

Which made me think of my buddies on that construction crew.

Billy Tallamalli was the carpenter foreman. He was a guy who was always going 100 mph and he told a story about his wife being pregnant and overly gassy that had me rolling on the floor.

“I told her, ‘Honey, I was in Viet Nam, with 40 guys bunked in one room, and I have never smelled anything as bad as that.”

Which made me think of an old college buddy. His name was Bert Doring. We had to call him ‘Dirt Boring’. He was an absolute ball of fire and he had zero chance at surviving 4 years of college.

Good old Dirt was only in my life for one year.

My mind flipped to California and my labor partner, Zane Conway. 

Zane and I were tight. We just hit it off, and I can still see him laughing and singing. He’d break out into a Bob Dylan song, and his super power was reciting poetry to pretty girls in packed bars.

Zane traveled the world. Hopefully he’s out there, singing and laughing.

And then there are the girls I once knew.

Girls that I had a massive crush on at one time or another.

I thought of Shari Louise Long. She would always include her middle name. She thought she looked like the German singer who sang ‘99 Red Balloons’ and she kinda’ did - I thought she was prettier.

I kissed her once on a dance floor in a crowded bar. Her boyfriend at the time - a friend of mine and an ex-marine, witnessed the kiss.

I prepared my mind to die.

Hiram Williams was the ex-marine and he marched right over to me and said, ‘I’m not going to kill you. I’d never lose a buddy over a girl.”

And there are a million more characters out there.

I wonder what they are all doing now.

I hope that they’re healthy and happy and loving and living.

Life is funny that way.

I haven’t seen any of them in more than 30 years…

…but there they are…

…front and center…

…trapped in time at the age that I knew them.

Life is funny that way.