I Love These Guys

About a million (read 30-some) years ago, there was a group of us who hung around together, partied like idiots, made lots of trouble, drank too much, slept too little, and had a blast doing it. All I have from that time are the distant memories and this picture, which Bruce, (2nd from left,) sent to me recently.

Justin Ogata, another of our group, passed away recently, and this picture was taken at his funeral. From left to right are my friends, Gary, Bruce, Joe A., Joe P., Paul, Ivan and Mike. Why they're all dressed for a Carnival Cruise, I don't know. I can only remember them in shorts, but I still see them as the rowdy, long-haired, hard-partying, riotously funny bunch I knew after high school.

Bruce once bought an ancient, army, step van, and took it on a Colorado River run. You had to bump it off to start it, and sometimes he forgot, parked on the flat, and we all had to push. It weighed a ton! I took Joe skiing for his first time, and while teaching him, was laughing so hard that he started yelling at me to go on without him. I couldn't leave him, or stop laughing. Mike had a crazy Irish Setter dog named Whiskey that used to escape over 6' backyard fence. We went hiking to Tenaja Falls, and Mike became unable to walk from severe blistering. When Whiskey went over the falls we watched him slide about 1/2 mile downstream, then everyone else went after him while Mike stayed in camp to nurse his feet.  In a time of American prosperity, Joe P. remained on unemployment for so long that we marveled at his talent for avoiding work. Gary was famous for his anatomy, his motorcycle and his stereo system, Ivan left us early for a stint in the army, and Paul  always was, and still is one of the nicest guys.

Where are the women you ask? I was silly not to attend the funeral, but I'm right here, and surprisingly there weren't too many others. All these men had girlfriends, but they weren't really part of the group in the way that I was, that Chris was, that Sue was. We weren't girlfriends, we were fellow revelers. Chris dated Joe A., Sue dated Gary, Bruce and I, and Mike and I thought about it at different times, but we were always best as friends. Sue was lost to me many years ago, despite my efforts to reel her in, and Chris died from cancer after a lifetime of heavy smoking. I miss them, all of them.

I wonder if I could get everybody on a hike up to Tenaja again...