I may not see these guys ever again. That was 1964 and it was almost true.
Out of the a blue an email appeared from Tom suggesting a bunch of us from 1964 get together. The invite went to seven or eight; all were fraternity brothers and four had been roommates. Most of us hadn’t seen each other in almost 60 years! OMG, sixty years!
Geographic diversity was very much evident: two from California, one from Ohio, one from Westchester, me from North Carolina and one from Montauk. A smart group: two PhD’s were invited and one showed, an attorney who served in the Army as a Vietnam JAG lawyer, a couple of masters, a frustrated student who got a pharmacy degree then a podiatry degree, everyone with a degree except for me. All were seemingly successful. Certainly Tom was. His house overlooking his Olympic pool and the Atlantic would vie with Tara.
Six of us confirmed we would be there. “There” was Montauk, Long Island. If you drive there add an hour or two to your ETA. You can almost see France. Montauk is a fisherman’s town. For decades you would see Japanese buyers on the docks as they bought tuna to be shipped to Tokyo that day. They would be sushi in Tokyo by tomorrow’s dinner. There are still hundreds of fishing boats of all sizes, all plying the Atlantic.
Will we recognize each other, do we still have something in common, what will we talk about? Most of us have children in their fifties so we have experienced family formation and all that entails. A couple of us went to Vietnam. The others, including me, who didn’t, wondered how that would go.
Early on Thursday we woke in our fancy hotel that had a plaque commemorating Teddy Roosevelt’s visit. We hadn’t seen each other the night before so gathering in the lobby at 6am was a little tense. After hugging all around we set out for the boat. We were going fishing!
Fishing was a perfect way for us to relax around each other. We had a captain and mate who would bait our hooks then take any fish off. Simple. In between catches we could intersperse little things about us and our families. Someone asked which coed we lusted after at university. Since four of us married girls from the school, most of us deferred an answer. Add enough of these little things and a nucleus forms, enough for each of us to gain opinions. Positive thoughts and opinions all around. Fishing wasn’t a challenge; bottom fishing in the bay and pulling up stripers. After measuring these would go either overboard or in the bucket. That afternoon we dropped the filets at a restaurant to have them prepared for dinner the next night. Excellent.
Tom has lived in Montauk for 51 years. He and his wife built a stable of small retail boutiques, at one point eighteen. He sold out a few years ago. During our tour of the town we learned the town council, years ago, imposed a 2% tax upon the sale each property. With these funds small parcels of land were bought. This action prevented large land purchases which could support a mall or WalMart. So, much of the unoccupied land has grown wild and unspoiled. The town has a completely different than, for example East Hampton.
So now we prepared for a lobster dinner at the largest place in town. A round table helped the conversation. By then we were all relaxed and confirmed to ourselves that we really did like each other. Two rounds of cocktails helpedloosen tongues. A wonderful glow developed.
This was an experience none of us would forget. My fraternity brothers Tom, Tray, Kenny, Charlie and Bricker are all easy to like and in pretty good health. Interesting guys, I’d like to know more about them. There is already talk of a bone fishing trip in the Florida keys. That would be terrific.
