 On The Line -- Issue 661 -- November 16, 2007  Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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On The Line -- Issue 661 -- November 16, 2007 Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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Thomas Wolfe aptly observed, "You can't go home again." One can visit the people and places of childhood but the home that one remembered is forever gone because of the changes wrought by time and circumstance.
I returned from a nine-day trip to Toledo, Ohio on Nov. 12 where I was the guest of my oldest friend, Jim Adams, and his wife, Marilyn. The next to the last day I was there was my 74th birthday. Perhaps age gave it an added poignancy because I had seen many of the changes on previous visits to Toledo. On one such trip after an absence of 20 years I saw that most of downtown Toledo had changed radically to the point where some of the only recognizable objects were the signs bearing names of the streets. The weather was much as I remembered November in the Midwest, frequently overcast and with fog late at night or in the early morning hours. The big difference was in places, many of which no longer exist, and in the people. Each relative or friend I visited told me of others who have died. My four brothers have since gone and my sister, Anna, is the only one remaining of our siblings. She bears a striking resemblance to my mother at the age my sister is now. Jim is very changed from the days when we roamed through town on boyish ventures. His once vivid red hair is white as is his beard. His life has changed dramatically since the days of our youth. Much of it was because of the encouragement and support of his wife. When Jim remarked one winter when he was 49 that he wasn't sure how long he could continue his work as a contractor, she immediately advised him to go to school and learn something else. He answered there was probably not much demand for a middle-aged man who had dropped out of high school when he was 16. Besides, who would pay the bills? She promptly said that her salary as a registered nurse could tide them over. He entered the University of Toledo and earned a bachelor's degree in two years. He finished the work for his master's in record time, then was advised by a professor he greatly admired to study chemistry. He earned his doctor of philosophy degree in chemistry in England. Jim had been doing some restoration work of historic homes and other buildings for the government and his knowledge of chemistry helped him in that. He was an instructor in chemistry at the University of Toledo for a number of years. His retirement coincided with his election as a fellow of the Royal Academy in England for the treatises on chemistry he had presented. His brother, Bob, who was my brother Larry's best friend before Jim or I were born, is still going strong at 82 despite a number of aches and pains. He had soloed in an airplane at 16, and still maintains and flies his own plane. Alice, the widow of another close friend, Leo Szyskowski, is 70 now and I felt a trifle guilty while reminiscing with her to see the laughing face of the 18-year-old girl she had been when I introduced her and Leo. She had been going with my brother, Fred, but was immediately entranced by Leo. I noticed that she was taking quick looks at me when she thought I wasn't looking. She said, "Every time I look at you now, I see Pop." To the whole family except me who called him Dad, he was Pop and also to our closest friends. Someone had commented on the resemblance before but it apparently had become more pronounced. Alice mentioned four or five of our old friends who had died since I had visited Toledo eight years earlier. Somehow she had not known of the death of my brother Fred in August of 2006. Her eyes moistened and I believe that part of the sadness was because of another link to her youth had gone. I tried calling two other childhood friends and one call resulted in the information that that line was no longer in service. To me it meant that the friend was gone. Another call brought the son of an old friend to the telephone. I explained who I was and he said that his father was in a rest home in a nearby community and "doing better than he had in a couple of years." I asked to be remembered to him. The Toledo Boys' Club where we swam and played games years ago was long since razed, and so was Marshall School where I had entered the first grade. Charles McVicker, Jim's cousin, did not know me even though we had lived a few doors from each other on Vinton Street 65 years earlier. I learned that his brother, Earl, had died years ago. Dyer's Chop House, Chili Mac's and a few other restaurants that were among my favorite are gone Jim told me that Red Wells' Roast Beef was still in existence but under new management. "Believe me," he said, "you wouldn't enjoy it. They use powdered potatoes instead of real ones and the gravy is inferior." A group of us went to Tony Packo's where the quality of the food has remained high. Jim was in the Class of 1952 at our alma mater, Woodward High School, and a classmate of Jameel Farah, better known as Jamie Farr on M*A*S*H, who often touted the restaurant's hot dogs in the long-running television comedy. I was up early on the morning of the 12th to arrive at the airport two hours before the flight was scheduled. Bob rode with Jim and me, and we all talked about our next reunion. I think that in the back of our minds, each of us was wondering who would be the next to go. I would have regretted not making the trip but it was good to arrive in Hollister where I have lived more than half of my life now. It may be that I will never see Toledo again but the Toledo of my childhood and the people that lived there will endure as long as I do. |
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