I often think of Jane. I miss her a lot. I remember how nice she was, always, to me. Often, I visited her at her home on the river. Her aunt and uncle were somewhat (very) distant in the beginning...but later became my good friends. They always made me feel welcome in their home...altho I usually arrived on my motorcycle...with a cigarette in my mouth. Sometimes if Jane was absent (perhaps on a date with Freddie Edwards?)...her aunt and uncle and I would celebrate the sunset over the St. John's river with a few cokes.
She and I never dated...we were just good friends who seemed to enjoy each other's company. We laughed a lot....and enjoyed the special snacks her aunt made for us late in the weekend evenings. Her aunt often apologized to me for yelling when I was about to sit on a very, very fragile 100+ year old antique chair in their parlour...... We both laughed about that later (but I never went near that chair again).
Actually, I may have lied about never dating Jane. One hot summer night we were bored and decided to go to the drugstore at Lakewood shopping center (hope I remember that name correctly). The drugstore had an old-fashioned counter and soda-jerk person. Jane and I ordered milkshakes. I am kinda shaky with a 50 year memory here but I think I ordered a chocolate and she ordered a vanilla. We giggled as we drank these concoctions (btw...have any of you had a milkshake recently that tasted as good as they did in the fifties...on a summer evening with a friend?). Anyway, halfway through the drinks, we swapped glasses with the used straws and finished each other's drink. Tell you true...I never had a milkshake that tasted as good as those for the rest of my life...and I have owned a goodly number of restaurants and drugstores too. I reckon that evening counted as a date but I am far from expert at these things. I like to think it was though!
I once read that old memories are the best memories. The old milkshake memory certainly qualifies as testimony to a gentle sweet girl.....
I remember the pain and shock I felt when I learned of her death..... RIP my special friend. See you in the not-too-distant-future I suspect.
Paul Manske (1958)
I often think of Jane. I miss her a lot. I remember how nice she was, always, to me. Often, I visited her at her home on the river. Her aunt and uncle were somewhat (very) distant in the beginning...but later became my good friends. They always made me feel welcome in their home...altho I usually arrived on my motorcycle...with a cigarette in my mouth. Sometimes if Jane was absent (perhaps on a date with Freddie Edwards?)...her aunt and uncle and I would celebrate the sunset over the St. John's river with a few cokes.
She and I never dated...we were just good friends who seemed to enjoy each other's company. We laughed a lot....and enjoyed the special snacks her aunt made for us late in the weekend evenings. Her aunt often apologized to me for yelling when I was about to sit on a very, very fragile 100+ year old antique chair in their parlour...... We both laughed about that later (but I never went near that chair again).
Actually, I may have lied about never dating Jane. One hot summer night we were bored and decided to go to the drugstore at Lakewood shopping center (hope I remember that name correctly). The drugstore had an old-fashioned counter and soda-jerk person. Jane and I ordered milkshakes. I am kinda shaky with a 50 year memory here but I think I ordered a chocolate and she ordered a vanilla. We giggled as we drank these concoctions (btw...have any of you had a milkshake recently that tasted as good as they did in the fifties...on a summer evening with a friend?). Anyway, halfway through the drinks, we swapped glasses with the used straws and finished each other's drink. Tell you true...I never had a milkshake that tasted as good as those for the rest of my life...and I have owned a goodly number of restaurants and drugstores too. I reckon that evening counted as a date but I am far from expert at these things. I like to think it was though!
I once read that old memories are the best memories. The old milkshake memory certainly qualifies as testimony to a gentle sweet girl.....
I remember the pain and shock I felt when I learned of her death..... RIP my special friend. See you in the not-too-distant-future I suspect.
Your loving friend.....
Paul