The "Good Friends Forever!!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing on the platform at the Lancaster Train Station, waiting for a passenger train to arrive and drop off or pick up a few of the passengers who are standing with me on this beautiful Spring morning.  Had decided to stop by the train station for a visit and to bring back the many memories that flood my head from time to time.  I grew up a half-city block from the train station as did one of my best friends, Jere Herr.  I lived on the last block of North Queen Street while Jere lived on the last block of Manheim Ave.  We got to know each other while in elementary school at the Milton J. Brecht Elementary School which was located on the Lititz Pike.  We became friends while in 1st grade when we were in the same classroom.  Throughout our elementary school years we both had the same teachers and entered Manheim Township Jr. High School in 1956.  We graduated from Manheim Township High School together in 1962 and parted ways...for a few years...at that time.  Throughout our school years we became good friends.  When we both turned 16 we both talked our parents into allowing us to buy a car.  Jere helped me rebuild my 1953 Henry J in the garage behind his house right next to the train station.  Jere's dad worked for Railway Express as well as being the Southern Manheim Township Fire Chief.  After graduation from high school Jere entered the Navy while I entered Millersville State Teacher's College in nearby Millersville, PA.  After Jere left the Navy, he too entered Millersville State Teacher's College to become an Industrial Arts teacher as I was after graduating from Millersville.  We remained friends while at Millersville College, but I began teaching as soon as I had graduated from Millervile while Jere spent a few years in the Navy before entering Millersville.  We both became Industrial Arts teachers at our alma mater, Manheim Township High School.  I taught wood shop, mechanical drafting and graphic arts while Jere taught metal shop.  Jere married his high school sweetheart, Sue, while I met my future wife Carol when her mother began working with my father at Meiskey's Jewelry store in downtown Lancaster.  For many years after teaching together, Jere and Sue as well as Carol and myself traveled on summer vacations together.  We were lucky enough to have traveled to just about every island in the Caribbean together as well as a few trips to the Hawaiian Islands.  Sue, Jere and I are within two months in age from each other while my dear wife is the youngest in the group being three years younger.  Jere and Sue have lived in State College for quite a few years now while Carol and I have made a few trips to visit with them from time to time.  Jere and Sue also made a few trips back to Lancaster so we could get together for weekends and at times travel to the Jersey Shore together.  Age has taken a toll on all of us, but we still seem to find time to get together for visits.  I doubt if we will ever visit the Caribbean again, but we still have the memories and the many scrapbooks filed with photos of our trips we took together in the past.  Not always as easy to continue our visits with each other, but we still manage to talk on the phone most every week.  There aren't too many couples who have been able to continue to stay in touch and make visits with each other for as many years as we have been able to do so.  And, when we do get together, we almost always pull out one of the many scapbooks we have to bring back memories from years gone by.  My guess is that there aren't too many couples who have been able to claim the memories which the four of us have been able to claim over our lifetime as good friends.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.