Old Friends

For the past 15 years or so, Ron and I have been getting together with his old friends from high school, Phil and Ellen.  Phil and Ellen were high school sweethearts and have been married for close to 50 years.  After losing contact for many years, Ron was contacted by them when they were planning one of their class reunions.  The  reunion reunited Phil, Ellen and Ron, as well as many other old friends.

Ron went to University of Chicago Lab school, a small school consisting of many academic type kids, children of professors, and some local kids that qualified for admission.  Ron was in the latter group, and although he got a great education there and made some great friends, he never felt like he belonged.  He was not much of a student, spending most of his time playing sports and chasing girls.

In February we flew to Phoenix to visit Phil and Ellen, and see a few other friends from his high school class too.  One particular night was a standout for Ron.  It was the night he saw an old friend whom he hadn't seen in almost 60 years.  His friend Ian was a high school athlete, and he and Ron were on several teams together.  After spending 15 minutes together, it was just like old times for them.  Stories Ron had been telling me for years were now validated by Ian.  They remembered  much of the same  stories, and laughed and laughed over the fun and pranks they pulled as teens.  The funniest story was the one where they went to one boys home for the weekend while his parents were out of town.  They were "supervised" by the housekeeper!  They played poker and drank gin one night until they were all quite drunk.  The housekeeper told them that the way to cure a hangover was to put ice cubes in their underpants.  They believed her.  I can only imagine how many times the housekeeper told this story over the next 50 years.

There really is nothing like old friends.  Even if you don't see each other for years, a few minutes together and you're laughing again like old times.  This night was one that Ron won't soon forget, and neither will I.  I haven't seen men laugh like that in years.  What a special night.!