After picking up this load yesterday just outside of Philadelphia, I made my way across Pennsylvania for delivery Monday morning in Delavan, WI. Along the way I took a slight deviation from the route to do something I haven't done in a long time. I made a stop in a suburb of Pittsburgh to visit some dear friends, C.J. (whom I first met early on in the Marines) and his lovely wife, Lisa. I hadn't seen them in a very long time, C.J. and I calculated it to be about 10 years. Due to a variety of different "speed bumps" I was only able to stay for less than two hours. It was a great visit! C.J. and I speak on the phone periodically, but I don't always get the chance to stop by, due to different scheduling conflicts that go along with driving a truck. During our visit C.J. and I reminded each other of a few things from our younger years that the other had forgotten about (such as my "head roll" while we sang U2's "When Love Comes To Town"). I still remember when C.J. and I first met: it was the day I had arrived in Guam to report for duty at the Marine Barracks. The platoon I was being assigned to was on duty, and C.J. - being in a different platoon - was pulling augment duty, since my platoon was short handed. When the van pulled up, and I began unloading my belongings, C.J. walked up and, noticing my bass case, asked if I play bass. The rest, as they say, is history. We became very close friends... so close, we earned the nicknames "Hawkeye" and "Trapper" (him being the latter).
In the few times we are able to get together, it's as if we've never had the distance between us that we do. I still kid with him about him having more grey hair than I (especially since I am exactly 11 months older). I always appreciate our conversations on the phone, and am grateful and blessed of the hospitality they extend to me when I do come to visit. He is as blessed to be married to Lisa as I am to be married to Tikvah. I'm hoping to be able to stop in for another visit much sooner, and be able to stay longer... perhaps even go out for dinner.
I still think he looks like a middle-age Bart Simpson.
See you again soon, Trapper!
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