night, he recalled how he slept over one evening when we were eight years old and the next day my mom dropped us off at the movies and we proceeded to sit in the balcony and shoot people in the audience below with our pea shooters. In the middle of third grade I lost one of my best friends when Bill's mom packed up the family and moved to Manheim, which is about 10 miles from Lancaster, but to me it was on the other side of the country. I knew I would never see him again. Bill moved to Millersville, PA after finishing elementary school when his mother took a job in housekeeping at Millersville State Teacher's College. Then, seven years later, as I was eating lunch in the "Rat Race", which is a gathering place for commuters at Millersville State, I saw this guy on the other side of the room talking with a few of my friends. I knew I recognized him, but wasn't sure who he was. Then it struck me. IT WAS BILL HECKEL!! Holy Cow! I hadn't seen him for almost 10 years, but he still looked the same to me. We had plenty to talk about and I got to visit his home in Millersville and meet his family again. Soon after he got a job at the Acme Supermarket where I had worked for a few years. The great times were starting all over again. But again, I lost him when he decided to enter the Navy after his freshman year at Millersville. He joined the navy in 1963 and eventually went to Missouri University where he got a degree in accounting and eventually a law degree. He stayed in Kansas City for a time then moved to Columbus before finally moving to Dallas, Texas in 1977. While in Dallas he did get to meet Larry Hagman who stared in "Dallas". They met at a year end "Wrap Party" for the cast and friends of the show. We talked from time to time and had a visit or two, but never got to share our lives with each other. Bill finally moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he now resides and works as a corporate tax director. He would make visits to Millersville to see his family and at times get a chance to stop to say Hi to my family. One year he got to visit with my family when we were vacationing at the Chesapeake and I invited him to stop for a few days. Boy did that bring back memories of when we were in elementary school together and spent time at the Chesapeake. Bill's mother and younger sister have both died and his older sister has moved from Lancaster, but Bill still makes vacation trips to Lancaster to see his friends from high school and always finds time to stop and visit with me. Fun to talk over some of the experiences we shared when we were growing up in elementary school. I find that some of my oldest friends are also some of the best and most interesting friends. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The "Oldest Friends are Some of the Best" Story
It was an ordinary day. Bill Heckel came to visit. Haven't seen him since last year about this same time. Bill is one of my oldest friends. Not necessarily in age, but in how long I have known him. He is older than me, by about a month. Seems we met in 1st grade in 1950. Now that's loooong ago! Bill lived with his mom, twin sister Carolyn and younger sister Susan about a block from me in an apartment at the rear of his grandfather's house. He quickly became one of my best friends in elementary school. We walked (I know you won't believe this, but) over a mile to school everyday in rain, sleet, snow, ...get the picture! But what was most amazing was that we had to cross a busy major artery into Lancaster and had to cross a railroad bridge that had high tension wires about 5 feet above our heads. The school district no longer allows kids from our old neighborhood to walk the route we walked everyday. Seems it is too dangerous by today's standards. Only guidance we had was safety patrol who were fellow students from our school. Bill became a good friend of my family and spent many hours playing at my house. As we were hashing over the same old memories the other night, he recalled how he slept over one evening when we were eight years old and the next day my mom dropped us off at the movies and we proceeded to sit in the balcony and shoot people in the audience below with our pea shooters. In the middle of third grade I lost one of my best friends when Bill's mom packed up the family and moved to Manheim, which is about 10 miles from Lancaster, but to me it was on the other side of the country. I knew I would never see him again. Bill moved to Millersville, PA after finishing elementary school when his mother took a job in housekeeping at Millersville State Teacher's College. Then, seven years later, as I was eating lunch in the "Rat Race", which is a gathering place for commuters at Millersville State, I saw this guy on the other side of the room talking with a few of my friends. I knew I recognized him, but wasn't sure who he was. Then it struck me. IT WAS BILL HECKEL!! Holy Cow! I hadn't seen him for almost 10 years, but he still looked the same to me. We had plenty to talk about and I got to visit his home in Millersville and meet his family again. Soon after he got a job at the Acme Supermarket where I had worked for a few years. The great times were starting all over again. But again, I lost him when he decided to enter the Navy after his freshman year at Millersville. He joined the navy in 1963 and eventually went to Missouri University where he got a degree in accounting and eventually a law degree. He stayed in Kansas City for a time then moved to Columbus before finally moving to Dallas, Texas in 1977. While in Dallas he did get to meet Larry Hagman who stared in "Dallas". They met at a year end "Wrap Party" for the cast and friends of the show. We talked from time to time and had a visit or two, but never got to share our lives with each other. Bill finally moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he now resides and works as a corporate tax director. He would make visits to Millersville to see his family and at times get a chance to stop to say Hi to my family. One year he got to visit with my family when we were vacationing at the Chesapeake and I invited him to stop for a few days. Boy did that bring back memories of when we were in elementary school together and spent time at the Chesapeake. Bill's mother and younger sister have both died and his older sister has moved from Lancaster, but Bill still makes vacation trips to Lancaster to see his friends from high school and always finds time to stop and visit with me. Fun to talk over some of the experiences we shared when we were growing up in elementary school. I find that some of my oldest friends are also some of the best and most interesting friends. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
night, he recalled how he slept over one evening when we were eight years old and the next day my mom dropped us off at the movies and we proceeded to sit in the balcony and shoot people in the audience below with our pea shooters. In the middle of third grade I lost one of my best friends when Bill's mom packed up the family and moved to Manheim, which is about 10 miles from Lancaster, but to me it was on the other side of the country. I knew I would never see him again. Bill moved to Millersville, PA after finishing elementary school when his mother took a job in housekeeping at Millersville State Teacher's College. Then, seven years later, as I was eating lunch in the "Rat Race", which is a gathering place for commuters at Millersville State, I saw this guy on the other side of the room talking with a few of my friends. I knew I recognized him, but wasn't sure who he was. Then it struck me. IT WAS BILL HECKEL!! Holy Cow! I hadn't seen him for almost 10 years, but he still looked the same to me. We had plenty to talk about and I got to visit his home in Millersville and meet his family again. Soon after he got a job at the Acme Supermarket where I had worked for a few years. The great times were starting all over again. But again, I lost him when he decided to enter the Navy after his freshman year at Millersville. He joined the navy in 1963 and eventually went to Missouri University where he got a degree in accounting and eventually a law degree. He stayed in Kansas City for a time then moved to Columbus before finally moving to Dallas, Texas in 1977. While in Dallas he did get to meet Larry Hagman who stared in "Dallas". They met at a year end "Wrap Party" for the cast and friends of the show. We talked from time to time and had a visit or two, but never got to share our lives with each other. Bill finally moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he now resides and works as a corporate tax director. He would make visits to Millersville to see his family and at times get a chance to stop to say Hi to my family. One year he got to visit with my family when we were vacationing at the Chesapeake and I invited him to stop for a few days. Boy did that bring back memories of when we were in elementary school together and spent time at the Chesapeake. Bill's mother and younger sister have both died and his older sister has moved from Lancaster, but Bill still makes vacation trips to Lancaster to see his friends from high school and always finds time to stop and visit with me. Fun to talk over some of the experiences we shared when we were growing up in elementary school. I find that some of my oldest friends are also some of the best and most interesting friends. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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