photo above - Ken on left. My hubby, John, in light blue on right.
Before we left on our trip out west, my hubby, John, was in contact with Ken, an old school chum
of his. Since we would be in the state
of Washington Ken made arrangements to drive to Issaquah and spend a day with
us . . . or really with John.
It was enjoyable to hear these two close friends reminisce about
bygone days, the kids they knew back then and how time had changed people
and places. During this conversation I also
learned that Ken had been a couple of years behind John in high school. Back then it was, and probably still is today, uncool to
associate with lower class mates.
However John and Ken shared common interests; they both lived around
Lake Sammamish and they both like fast engines and things with fast engines such as boats and cars. Theirs was a friendship that would last the
test of time and of distance.
When Ken arrived at the hotel we lunched together. I sat and quietly ate while the two old chums
talked and caught up on several years
worth of their lives. Ken was
full of stories about the many changes that had occurred to their old home town
of Issaquah and to some of the kids that they once went to school with.
Conversations went similar to this:
"Hey John. Do
you remember Billy Dan-fangle ?" Ken inquires.
John looks puzzled and shakes his head negatively. "Can't say as I recall the name."
"Oh I'm sure if you had met him you'd remember." Ken replies adamantly. "He was a scrawny kid, clothes were worn and dirty. You could smell him from down the hall. Don't get me wrong, Danny was a really nice kid and he and I were good friends.
He used to live in this area before Issaquah
got all built up. His folks had a farm
here and about nine kids to raise . They were about as poor as they come. Don't
think Danny had more than a couple of changes of clothes and maybe one pair of shoes
back then. He always looked unkempt and, as I said,
you could smell him coming. Poor kid,
the family didn't have running water in their old farm house so it was a
luxury if Danny got a bath once a week.
They were good people, hard working, honest, respectable but dirt poor
people.
Well time changes.
Bull-Dozer Corp wanted to build their corporate office out this way and
had plans for a big development. They
offered the Dan-fangles a pretty penny for their hundred and some odd acre
farm. Over night the Dan-fangles became multi-millionaires. Couldn't have happened to a nicer
family. I like to see things like that
happen to deserving people."
I couldn't help but be fascinated by Ken's stories of the
past; the people and the places.
After lunch Ken suggested it would be fun to drive
around some of the old haunts that he
and John grew up in. So a drive
around some of the neighborhoods around Lake Sammamish became our agenda for
the afternoon.
photo above - a view of Lake Sammamish. Most of the lakeside is private property, off limits to the Have-Nots such as myself, but someone had propped open a wrought iron gate with their flip-flop, giving us egress to the lake shore and the view.
Now a days we all know that lakefront property is prime real estate, the crème de
la crème of location - location- location.
Therefore our tour consisted of
comments such as:
"I don't believe it !
That used to be where Timmy Wagsworth's house was! By
God, it's been torn down and there's a mansion there now! "
"Oh look! That
house is where Trudy Pick-a-Lily
lived. Well I'll be, it's just like it was back when we were
kids. Hasn't changed a bit."
Unfortunately time had done away with both John's and Ken's
old childhood homes, but time can never
erase all the memories that were made there.
The summers spent on the lake, swimming, water skiing or just cruising the
lake in a boat.
Things may change but some friendships stand up to time and distance . . . BFF. :)
Posts
