40 years ago today

[14holestogie]

December 17, 1969. Funny how clear the memories of that day.

Sleeping over at a high school buddy's house and being sent on our way to school after a full breakfast prepared my his mom. She and my mom worked together waitressing and were great friends and were going to finalize their Christmas shopping later that day.

Took my usual walk off campus for my smoke break at lunch time (yeah, smoking already for 3 years at age 15) and walked past the Lutheran school nearby, where I stopped and chatted with my baby sister while she was on recess. I still see her face through the fence to this day.

Memory is a little fuzzier until I get home, I would suppose well after school's over. 3 mile walk rather than a bus ride. They frowned on smoking on the bus.

Once home, the phone rings and my step-dad gets a call and says there's been an accident. I remember trying to reassure him all the way on our 40 mile trip to the hospital that it can't be that bad or they would have told us.

I still remember the smell of the emergency room waiting area and just how all the furniture was arranged. The doctor comes in and quietly talks to my step-dad and takes him into another room. That's when I heard the wail, the wail I still hear today. It's then I realize how bad it can be.

While finishing up shopping, my mom's car was broad-sided by someone, in town, mind you, who was late for work and decided that speed limit and stop signs be damned, I need to get to work. There in the blink of an eye, my mom, my baby sister, and my buddy's mom all went to meet Jesus. 40 years young for the ladies, 9 years young for my sister.

Is it a wonder that Christmas presents don't quite have the luster for me they once had. It definitely puts the holidays in the proper perspective. It's about family and friends sharing their company with one another. The other stuff is just that, stuff.

I'll be smoking a good one later today with a tear in remembrance.
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em and tell the friends and family they're loved.