I lost a beautiful friend last week. Ed had been a singular force in the small circle of high school pals I hung out with in the early 1960s. He wasn't from our town of East Longmeadow, Mass. and he was ahead of the crowd in so many ways. While we all were fumbling around in the girlfriend department (at least I was) and trying to figure out which college to attend, Ed had hooked up with Jean -- his steady squeeze from our krew -- had decided to enlist in the Navy after high school, and was the first of us to marry and start breeding. Already a man with a plan.
A lifelong romance.
I hadn't seen the dude in ages. En route from our home in Paris to the East Longmeadow High School 50th Class Reunion a couple of years ago, I told Marti about our gang in those days. Of those 1960s pals, Marti and I had only seen a handful since. Mostly at my parents' and brother's funerals. I said that our little crowd of running buddies had been tight as tight could be. Other students kinda envied our clique.
We crowbarred in a rollicking lunch last year with Jean and Ed at The Student Prince, an old haunt in Springfield. They were so easy to hang out with. There was no way to catch up 40 or so years, but it didn't matter. It seemed like we'd just seen them all along.
At the reunion in 2012 I had been surprised to see how easily we all picked up after not seeing each other for decades! Ed will be so missed. Even though I was aware of his battle with cancer I was in tears when Marti gave me the news. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ed and all of his family and friends. He was a great big funny guy! Check out the pic of the four of us at the hip table at the reunion. Ed and me, Marti and Jean seated in front of us. Can you tell we were having a marvelous time?
God bless his laughing warm soul!
Ed's Obit
So sorry for your loss, Phil. Thanks for the great portrait of Ed.
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