FriendsFriendsI cannot remember all of them -- and if I could, there are many I would not know how to describe. Here is the list that I do remember.
I do not remember my friends in Bowmansville. I do remember some incidents, mostly those of which I was the goat. I was with a few kids from across the main street. These were discouraged as friends. I do not remember why. The girl's German Shephard bit me. My molther discovered the bite when she gave me a bath. She was not happy: rabies was a consideration.
The people across the street were friends. They had a baby. The baby hit me in the head with a shovel and knocked me cold. I tried to return the favor. His mother saw me. I got a real whupping that night.
There was a landfill/swamp on the way home from school. The kids dared me to walk in it barefoot. I did this. My feet were shredded by the broken bottles. Remember there were not so many cans as bottles in those days.
One of the kids, Ronnie, came over and we were playing with the lawn mower. You know, the ones that you push and the blades rotate. My mother came out and told us to stop. Ronnie would not and I my mother was returning. I stuck my thumb in it. It did not stop but Ronnie stepped back. When it stopped, I put my thumb back on. This was OK until my mother came back out and my thumb fell off. Ronnie was not too welcome after that. The hospital sewed it back on. It is OK now.
Still too young. The friends I did have are described under history, Brighton.
Still too young. The friends I did have are described under history, Ypsilanti.
Candy Jordan
Candy was the neighborhood blond. Everyone liked Candy. I liked Candy a lot but was too shy to compete with the crowd. I know she knew it. She and Janice were close freiends. In any cae, everyone knew Candy's locker combination. I arrived at school very early as my father delivered me there on his way to work. This was my primary homework time. In any case, one day I put a grass snake on the top shelf of Candy's locker. How was I to know that someone just the day before had put Candy into histerics by placing a dead mouse in her locker? She opened the door and with the boy gaggle. watching picked up the snake and said "what a pretty" snake. Nobody was going to fool Candy two days in a row. Ooops. It crawled up the sleeve of her dress. Up the hall in hysterics again. It took me a while to own up to the fact that it was my snake. I think I would have been expelled. Candy might forgive me. The Principal never would. Candy was a sport.
The Ferriers lived two houses from us around the corner to the
left. Strangely enough, I remember the Ferriers telephone number
to this day -- but I do not remembers ours at the 41st Drive house.
Ray, was gone a lot. He drove a back hoe for highway
construction. He was very good at this. At times he had an
RV to live in while he was on site half way across the state. Ray
was always fixing things.
Marge was the neighborhood mother. She had opinions on
everything and usually kept them to herself unless asked nicely.
They had a giant lemon tree in their backyard with the main branches
held up with 2x4s. They had a dog but I forget what it was
like. It barked at cars in the alley. THey had a doggie
door in the back dor. They added a fireplace in the living room.
I really like the Ferriers and they liked me. But if I did not
call, I never heard from them. I have not heard from them in
years and am afaid they have passed on. The last times I called
the phone went unanswered and no return call was made. They have
some sort of caller ID thing so that calling and getting through is not
always easy.
The Ferriers had 3 daughters. Barb went to nursing school and
was not home when we moved in. The middle daughter got marrued
and disappeared up to Denver. Amy, the younger daughter, well
there are stories about her in other places. She got married to
an accountant and became a grade school teacher. This was hard
because een at thirty years old, she looked like she was 15.
Barb married Bill Edwards and his family.
The two families became close. Ray had been the paternal leader
of the family. Bill inherited this. Bill was a born leader.
They had a pit bull, a cat, alop-eared rabbit, a parrot, and I forget
what else. All this in a little house over near 51st Avenue and
Indian School. Then they moved to a farm lot at 75th Avenue and
Dunlap. They had horses and Bill came down with a condition that
made him mostly an invalid. Bill invented a web mask for horses
and patented it. I see ,ots of these now and hope that his patent
stood and he has made money from these things. He deserves
it. They have one daughter, Shauna. AN exceptionally
talented young woman.
There were a lot of people at Siemens that I knew there. Many were friends. Some were acquaintances. Some were not. If you were my friend and you are not listed, email me, and I shall add you to the list. After a while, there is so much to write that the memory wonders.
I do not think I would have survived Boca without my friend LoAnne. She is one of the best software engineers I have ever known. She was also a very good friend and confidant. She is married to an engineer named The and I think at this point has one little girl. We have not been in touch since she left North Carolina and we barely spoke while she was there. I think she moved to Seattle where I believe that she had family.
LoAnne took care of Megan for Megan’s last month in Boca while we were moving to San Jose.
Friends like LoAnne and Tom are found seldom in one lifetime. On the other hand, I have some of the best friends in the entire world and I would not want others to think I cared for them less.
Susie is talented, smart, and a really good friend. She, like many, has a life with a load heavier than I could carry. She has been under-utilized as an engineer and manages to be a good mother and spouse and keep a good house and … Susie always, always, wears a smile and has something to laugh at it. Susie reminds you of the freedom you find on top of a Colorado mountaintop. When you can find the time to be there.
A good friend in Boca and I see her not often enough in San Jose. She is a talented engineer and also keeps a family together. I think she lives in Pleasantan now. She lived up near Concord for a while after leaving Raleigh. Many of the engineers from Boca moved to Raleigh for the preservation of their sanity.
He died of cancer about 12 years ago. Lee was an interesting fellow. He seemed to like everybody although always a little above a situation, he was always your partner and friend. A very resourceful engineer. It is hard to say much about someone who has passed on.
He was my first team lead on the ACD/ACL project. He knew we would take a beating on the project as he had four people and no experience and the project effort was grossly underestimated. He was disappointed in me because I had much experience in keysystems but nothing on UNIX or a PBX.
We became good friends anyway. He transferred to Santa Clara as soon as the system was up and running. This was a good move as Tom is a California free spirit to start with. He just did not know it yet while he was in Florida. He married a woman that is a good match and moved to North Carolina. RTP. He had a nice home on a private lake and worried over his two step sons. Last I knew he was working ACD stuff for a Canadian company. That’s not fair. I still keep in touch with Tom.
We were friends with our nextdoor neighbors. I do not remember their last name. Here first name was Prudy and she was very academic. She could tell you all about Egyptian History among other things.
In the school we tended to befreind those in our neighborhood. Among these are Chuck Krueger, Scott and Candy Jordan, Scott and Janice Towle, Jeff Cleary, Tommy LaGotta. There were the kids from Hampton Heights: Danny Deuster, Johnny ..., Jimmy Lomueller. I remember John Cushman and Bob Bennett. But mostly the neighborhood.