Sharon and I joined my brother, Dick, and his wife, Jackie, and my high school friend, Doug, and his wife, Susan, at La Push on the Olympic Peninsula. We spent a few days enjoying the beach and the sun along with a few beverages. I remember it being a great outing.
Oh, how life evolves. This photo was taken in the summer of 1974.
That is me on the far left. I had just signed a teaching contract with the Issaquah School District. I would be in the classroom and coaching football that fall. After 30 years in the classroom I retired. I married Ellen when I was 50 years old.
That is my older brother standing next to me. He was the rebel of our family. He married numerous times and had four children. He flew in B-52's during the Cuban Crisis. Charisma poured from every cell in his body. Dick fought demons his entire life. He committed suicide in his 67th year.
Susie is in the middle. I didn't know much about her. Sharon told her about a job opening at the FTC in Seattle and she was hired. She married my good friend Doug who is next to her. The four of us did a lot together. She divorced Doug and became a chimney sweep. I have no idea what happened to her after that.
Doug is sitting on the log without a shirt. After being a Marine he returned to Issaquah and married Susie. I think they had a child. He later remarried. I lost track of him after Susie left him but ran into him at a fast food place in Issaquah. He introduced his wife to me and I think a child by that marriage. He informed me he was slowly dying and didn't have much time left. He said goodbye to me. He thought the disease was due to something the Marine Corps had done to him while he was stationed at Joshua Tree. He was a good guy and deserved better.
That is Dick's second wife, Jackie, second from the right. She left my brother and took their only child to Alabama where she remarried. I never heard from her after that. I liked Jackie.
Sharon is on the right. At the time of this photo we were mere days from breaking up after being together since 1969. She married in 1981 and is happily married today.
This photo is of a group of friends enjoying the day and the time together. We had no idea of how our individual futures would play out.
The crew from left to right: John, brother Dick, Susie, Doug, Jackie, and Sharon
No words are needed.
I count five people on that rock. Everyone made up except for me.
I look like one tired trooper.
I don't remember how we created the light streaks.
There is always a place in my heart for a bon fire on the beach with friends and family.
Jackie and Susie watch and listen to the surf hitting the rocks.
My brother and Jackie are mesmerized by the surf.
That has to be Doug. The bowlegged stance says it is John.
There is nothing more dangerous than trying to ride the surf at La Push.
Thank God we didn't lose anyone to the currents and cold water.
Doug seem to be equipped for the cold water. I wonder why he wore a white T-shirt under the wetsuit.
No comments:
Post a Comment