Didn't We
By: Larry E. Slaughterbeck
1st Place Poem, Poetry Contest 2015
It
was a hot and muggy August day at the county fair…only last year…
Someone
from my youth…now my past…
the
wife of my high school buddy, happy to see me, asked…
“Could
you check on him in the restroom?”
I
opened the door; my soul was filled with delight to see him…
He
greeted me with my old high school nickname…
…our
hands reached out, firmly grasped, then the smile from his face faded…
Befuddled
he asked: “Have you seen my jacket?”
I
wondered…It was over ninety and humid.
He
held on to my hand, “Didn’t we play football together?”
“In
the springtime plow the farm fields on an International tractor?”
“Didn’t
we?” In bewilderment, I nodded…We were like brothers in the fifties.
He
was six feet…athletic…crew-cut…
The
first day of our freshman year we shared the same locker…
A
bond that would lead us on a great adventure…
Mrs.
Murbaugh’s English classes, Trig and Algebra, the county track meets…
There
was Homecoming, Sock Hops, the Junior and Senior Proms.
The
restroom door opened slightly and it was his wife’s voice, “Is everything ok?”
“I’m
looking for my jacket!” “Honey, It’s home in our closet.”
Tears
filled his eyes and quietly he spoke: “I forgot who I am.”
I
realized…I was now the keeper of those precious memories…
Those
of our youth…that began on an autumn day in fifty-six…and now are no more than
a leaf hanging on…till the winds of November blows them away…
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