Shared experiences can create bonds stronger than the cable on a bridge.\u00a0 Family ties are a natural… so too, childhood friends. <\/p>\n
But it can happen in the jury room or the fox hole, too… times that have a clear time line with a beginning and an end.\u00a0 Brief; but because of the intensity<\/em> of the shared experience, the connections\u00a0can be\u00a0as solid as those that spread to a lifetime.<\/p>\n Whether it is over an extended period, or the intensity of a brief intersection… it is sharing a common path that adds definition to the sense of camaraderie and kinship.\u00a0 And there is nothing that can surpass the rich depth of shared memory.<\/p>\n Such was the case when I caught bits and pieces of chatter coming from the high top near my station at the Ash Creek Saloon.\u00a0 I am there from time to time, and while I keep to myself, I have observed a thing or two over the years that have caught my attention.<\/p>\n Maybe it was the laughter that first stopped me in mid-flight to a sip of Wild Turkey Rye.\u00a0 Not a rude or obnoxious laugh that intrudes into your space.\u00a0 But laughter that was genuine and spoke to the enjoyment of living.<\/p>\n Yes, I stopped what I was doing to notice four buddies huddled around a table, beer bottles and glasses scattered about, along with small plates of buffalo wings (both eaten and uneaten).\u00a0 They were of my age, or so I judged.\u00a0 Maybe that’s why I paid closer attention.\u00a0 Did they bear the same stitches and scars of age that I wore?\u00a0 I thought so.\u00a0 I wouldn’t have explain to them the Colts’ overtime victory against the Giants in 1958.\u00a0 These guys could remember the terror of Nikita Khrushchev beating his shoe in the U.N. General Assembly.\u00a0 “We will bury you.”<\/p>\n These fellahs were not my school friends, not family.\u00a0 Nor did we share time in military service… but just being of the same age meant that we shared a certain common experience.\u00a0 <\/em>Not that they noticed me; but I raised my glass in acknowledgement of their presence… of their living to enjoy the same sunny day that I did.<\/p>\n And then their words.\u00a0 Or, at least the words that I caught.<\/p>\n “Half and half!”<\/p>\n “Yes!\u00a0 Yes, yes.\u00a0 What a quality drink.\u00a0 The first time I had that was at your place.\u00a0 No, no… it was at Richie’s.”<\/p>\n “Yeah, Richie’s.\u00a0 For sure.\u00a0 Half chocolate milk and half white birch beer.\u00a0 What a combo!\u00a0 Better than an egg cream.”<\/p>\n “Better by miles<\/em>.”<\/p>\n OK… I thought that “half and half” was half stout and half lager…<\/p>\n “Man, did that sound vile… but shit, you know it was good.\u00a0 It was better than good.\u00a0 It was great<\/em>!\u00a0 I haven’t had one in years.”<\/p>\n “My favorite was a razz-lime.\u00a0 On a hot day…”<\/p>\n “Nice.”<\/p>\n Yeah, nice.\u00a0 If it was my conversation I would have added a black cow.<\/em>\u00a0 Root beer and vanilla ice cream.\u00a0 My Brother Paul introduced me to the exceptional quality of that concoction.\u00a0 But it wasn’t my conversation.<\/p>\n “Two cents plain.\u00a0 That’s what my parents called it.\u00a0 Plain seltzer.\u00a0 Unadorned.\u00a0 Nothing killed a thirst quicker.”<\/p>\n “Richie told us that.”<\/p>\n “True, true.”<\/p>\n “Here’s to Richie… he’s thirsty no longer.”<\/p>\n “To Richie.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shared experiences can create bonds stronger than the cable on a bridge.\u00a0 Family ties are a natural… so too, childhood friends. But it can happen in the jury room or the fox hole, too… times that have a clear time … Continue reading