The "Re-connecting With Friends From The Past" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just grabbed the mail from the mailbox and found an envelope addressed to me.  Return name on the top left of the envelope read Sandy.  Wow, I haven't talked to Sandy for quite some time.  It was back in the early 1980's that Carol and I and our three children went on summer vacations with Sandy and her husband Gary and their three children to cottages along the rivers that fed into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.  The ten of us had great times together and developed many happy memories on our vacations at "The Bay."  Memory after memory were made during the half-dozen or so summer vacations we shared together at places known as Kentmore Park, The Roach Motel, Aunt Doris's Cottage and The Gullicks old place.  And then ... Gary had a heart attack one Palm Sunday and it was never quite the same.  Gary was 51 years old when he died!  We had already made arrangements for our vacation the following summer so we all decided to go without Gary, but it just wasn't the same.  Never went after that.  Well, my envelope today from Sandy was a nice note card with a small cartoon included inside it.  Her note to me read:  Hi LDub,  I saw this in the paper the other day and right away I thought of you and Tad.  

Do you remember doing this with him at the bay?  I never thought I'd see our crazy adventures in the funny's!  Next they will have you and Gary in the boat and either the boat or engine catching fire.  Hope you and Carol have a good summer.  Sandy.  Well, as soon as I saw the cartoon it brought back happy memories of bay vacations without Gary's motorboat.  The first year or two during our visits to the bay we were only able to use the rowboat that was at the rental we had.  Then Gary bought a motorboat and vacations were never the same.  Day after day of waterskiing with Gary at the helm and early morning fishing trips for channel catfish with the six kids while our wives relaxed at the cottage are fond memories never to be forgotten.  

I am about to get in the rowboat while Tad is preparing to waterski.

The cartoon is mighty close to the time my youngest son, Tad, who was perhaps 6 years old at the time, wanted to waterski.  All we had at the time was the rowboat so Tad put on a pair of children's waterskis and I tied them to the rowboat.  Tad was at the shoreline and I was pointed toward the center of the Elk River.  I gave it a good try, over and over again, but with absolutely no success, naturally.  Tad was disappointed, but did enjoy the special time we had together.  One of the many happy memories from our bay vacations. Dear Gary ... may you rest in peace with all the memories we made at the bay.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.