Oswego Friends

 In the summer of 1963, I was preparing for the next stage of my life.  I would be moving from my home town of Oswego, NY to Philadelphia, PA where I would matriculate as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania.

In my mind I believed I should reject all of my past in order to get ready for my new life.  That meant ending my relationships with my Oswego friends.  I would make new friends at college.

In retrospect, this was a terrible idea.  I could have friends from both, new and old.  My children did this, maintaining friendships with their childhood friends, even as they are now adults.

Twenty-five years after 1963, I started to realize the error of my ways.  I attended my high school reunion looking to reconnect with my old Oswego friends.

I met Frank Ruggio in seventh grade and we became fast friends for the next six years.  In December 1962, we made a memorable trip to New York City to watch two live sporting events on the same day.

What a shock it was learn that Frank had died of cancer six months prior to the reunion.  How I had wasted so many years without Frank's friendship.

Frank wrote in my yearbook, "You are the most stubborn person I have ever known.  Maybe that is why we are friends."

I met Billy Richards in sixth grade when he called me an Einstein because I could answer many of the teacher's questions.  Like Frank, Billy and I were fans of spectator sports.

By coincidence we were fans of rival teams.  I was a fan of the San Francisco baseball Giants and the New York football Giants.  Billy loved the the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cleveland Browns.

Billy wrote in my yearbook, "One of these days I will convince you LA (Dodgers) is the best team."  So many years of sharing this great rivalry lost.

I recently discovered that Billy died in Rome, NY in 2018.  He had been a math teacher for thirty-nine years.

I'll write about more of my Oswego friends in future posts.