Scott

I’ve been thinking about a childhood friend. His birthday is today. He would be turning 44. He’s been gone now almost as many years as I knew him. We had a lot of good times together… and got into trouble sometimes too. Here are a couple of the stories I remember about Scott….

RUNNING AWAY:

When Scott and I were about 10 my parents and I got into a huge fight. I have no idea why. I really do not remember what we were fighting about but I remember telling Scott that I hated them. He told me that I should run away. He had a great idea that I could live in the storage space above his garage. I stomped around mad and kept talking about how dumb they were. After awhile I went home and worked things out with my parents. Scott went home and started fixing up the space above his garage. The next day Scott called and wanted me to come over to his house.

When I got there he was very excited to have me come see what he had been working on in the garage. I went in and then followed him up some steep stairs. It really wasn’t a room….. it was more like a storage spot. If I remember correctly it was just ply wood over the support beams. In the middle of the ‘room’ Scott had laid a sleeping bag and set two flashlights next to it. There was also a bag of chips, a canteen of water and an empty jelly jar. On the sleeping bag was a complete boxed set of “Little House on the Prairie”.

From where I was standing I could look down and see the cement floor below us. I really did not like heights. I was also a little worried about the fact that my Mom had often told me that I rolled around in my sleep. Scott was showing me the accommodations and the amenities. He was explaining that he brought two flashlights so I would have a back-up. Chips and water were there for obvious reasons. Now I thought the jelly jar was to use as a glass….. Scott said it was actually in case I had to pee in the night. A jelly jar….. Seriously?? I asked about the books (I think they were his sisters) and he told me they were to read because I would not be able to go to school.

Ok, at home, I had my own room with a waterbed and carpeting and a phone (because I had a really long cord from the living room) and posters on the walls… not to mention a bathroom right down the hall. I had already decided: No way!

Scott asked me if I liked it and I said that it was ok, but that I wasn’t going to stay. I explained that I wasn’t mad at them any more and I did not want to run away. He was madder at me than I was at my parents! I probably should have been more appreciative, but my fear at that moment was just getting back down the ladder to ground level!! Scott didn’t talk to me for several days after that. I have no idea when he finally took all those supplies back into the house. Every time I see the Little House books (Pepper has a set) I think about him and the room he made for me. ☺

THE MAIL COLLECTION:

When I was about 12 I had a paper route. The best thing about it was the huge bag I got to carry the papers around in. Well, the bag is what Scott liked best…. I actually liked the tips! He liked carrying the bag and helping me go around the neighborhood on my route. One day after we started we noticed mail in a mailbox. We (and it is really hard not to just blame it all on Scott right here) started putting mail from mailboxes into the paper carrier bag as we delivered the papers. Throughout the whole route we walked through the neighborhood and picked up everyone’s mail. We actually did this for 3 or 4 days in a row. We took the mail home and opened it all. (Come on, kids love mail…. It was like Christmas and birthday cards on hyper-drive!) We opened bills and letters and social security checks and all kinds of interesting stuff. We were having a ball!

We hid all the mail in my closet.

Unfortunately, my Mom went in one day looking for something and couldn’t help but notice all the correspondence! She asked me about it and I eventually crumbled. I told her what Scott and I had been up to. She called Scott’s Mom and glared at me the whole time she talked to her on the phone. The two Mom’s got together and sorted through all our mail and did their best to get it back to the right people. Later, Mom told me she wasn’t thrilled with the bonding experience! The one thing both our Mom’s agreed on was that we could not spend time together anymore. That really didn’t last long….. we could always find antics to get into. I have lots more stories, but my kids read this!! ☺