I first met Carl in the summer of 1962. I had just transferred from Cape Cod Community College to the University of Massachusetts. At the time the University had only one campus located in western Massachusetts at Amherst. It was and still is a beautiful campus. Carl was beginning his education and we became roommates that summer. Two things I remember of that summer.

The first were the softball games we played against a team Carl’s father organized from Worcester. We would play every weekend. One weekend we played at Amherst and the next at Worcester. There always was a keg of beer at stake. The loser picked up the tap, funny by the end of the game it didn’t seem to matter who won or lost. I remember once taking a cup, full of beer out, and placing it a few feet behind second base. I though it would be safe. The first batter hit a line drive and yep, hit it square. We were young and thought we were much better than the “old guys” Carl’s dad had brought, but you know, I remember winning only one game that summer! I still do not know if it was because the other team was better athletes or better drinkers!

The second was probably a bigger event in Carl’s life than mine. During our free time we would go to the University’s HUB where we would get something to eat and drink coffee. We also met a number of other students. One of those students was an attractive redhead girl. One night after being with her I returned to our dorm room with leaves in my shorts. It was then that Carl realized that she had more to offer than conversation. I don’t know for sure but I think Carl experienced something he had not experienced before that summer.

That fall we moved into different dorms, but kept in contact. One of the funniest evenings was the ride to New York! Carl and I met a number of interesting people during this time. One of them was a guy called Rene’ Rene’ was a transfer from one of the top technological schools in the country. Rene’ was one of the very few genius I have ever met. I once asked him why he transferred from a top engineering school, where he had a straight A average, to a liberal arts school to major in English. His answer was simple. He said: “when you deal with a problem in math there is only one solution, but take a half a dozen or so words and the possibilities are endless!” I read some of his stories and they were amazing. I saw Rene’ a few years later in Colorado. He was driving a Winnebago for the University of Michigan and doing research for the first Dictionary of American Slang. I never saw him again and always wondered what happen to him. Did he write under a pseudonym or did the drinking get to him before his talent was recognized?

Rene’ was a big man and had grown up in Pittsfield. He could sit down with miners and drink them under the table or he could sit down with university professors and hold his own. When I think of Rene’ I think of Steven King.
Rene’, Carl, I and some other friends would get together on the weekends to drink beer and play cards. We usually bought a keg of beer and we all had two quart pitchers and played until the beer was gone, every once in a while we did something stupid like drive to Albany, New York for a sub sandwich. This one night there were four of us left and it was three in the morning. Rene’ did not want to go home so we thought up a plan to get him out by saying we would go to New York City.

All four of us headed for a friends VW bug as we approached Carl and I realized that one of us had to sit in the back with Rene’. To settle this we decided to flip a coin. I won, then, Carl asked to make it best of three, being drunk, I agreed and won again. Carl then asked to make it best of five, then seven, then, nine and for five straight flips the coin went my way. Finally, Carl gave up and climbed into the back with Rene’. Things went all right for a few miles until Rene’ decided to open the back window which did not open and to begin yodeling. At the same time he thought that George, the driver, was his best friend and he should join him in the back seat. I said Rene’ was a big man and as he put his arm around George’s chest I could see George’s fingers slowly leaving the steering wheel. Here we are driving down the highway, at three in the morning, with George slowly being pulled into the back seat, me leaning over from the front passenger seat trying to steer and Carl turning pale. For some reason Rene’ let go.

George and I quickly thought of a plan to get Rene’ out of the car. We both indicated we needed a “Pee” break. George pulled the car off the road near a creek and we got out. As Carl was getting out I pushed him back in and as soon as Rene’ got out of George’s side, George jumped back in and we roared out of the area watching Rene’ making a big O. We drove back to the dorms and fell asleep. About six that morning I got a knock on the door with people asking where was Rene’. I took them to where we had left him and though we could see the O in the snow, Rene’ was nowhere to be found, even after we had checked a number of police stations. It was not until four that afternoon, when we received a call from Rene’ at the Connecticut/Massachusetts border asking for a ride, that we finally figured out what had happen to him. It seems after we had left him Rene’ was determined to meet up with us in New York, so he had hitched a ride. Somewhere near the New York/Connecticut border Rene’ had sobered up and realized that New York was a BIG city and he had no idea where to go to meet up with us. He got out of the car, turned around, and began to hitch a ride back. Hitching is not legal in Connecticut so Rene’ was picked up by the police. I never did find out how Rene’ talked the police to drive him to the border and let him make the call. Rene’ did have a knack of being at home in any setting and I figured he must of convinced the officers that the drive would save a lot of paperwork! To say the least we walked around on eggshells for the next couple of weeks and Carl did not come visiting like he use to and for good reason….

A few weeks later Carl and I met at the foot of my dorm and as we walked up the steps there was Rene’, at the top of the stairs, with a shotgun! Now Rene’ was nearly six feet tall and Carl pushes five foot six. Talk about a Steven King moment! What Carl and I did not know was that Rene’ had broken a bone in his leg and was using the shotgun as a crutch and his memory of the New York drive was foggy. Only later did he remember Carl was in the back seat and his memory was, in fact, very favorable towards Carl. But, that night there was terror in Carl’s eyes as he focused on Rene’s shotgun! Rene’ was in fact a big teddy bear, but that is not what went through our minds that night.

After three years I headed west and Carl headed to New York to become a teacher. I remember him telling me his dream was to become a teacher, buy a MG Roadster, and smoke a pipe.

I earned my degree at Colorado State University and began my own teaching career. We exchanged the occasional Christmas card but for the most part the lines of communication were thin, as both of us had gone about with our lives. My life hit a speed bump and before you know it I was living in western Canada. After my first year of teaching in Alberta I headed east for Cape Cod. Somewhere in Connecticut I stopped in to visit Carl. He had given me his girlfriend’s address and had told me if I was in the area to stop in. Little did I know that the day I dropped in was the eve of his wedding day! Well we did have a tradition of having a good time! The best memory of that night was watching two of the guys at the stag party outside the house, dressed only in their shorts, one under the lamppost and the other singing the song “Lillie Marleen”. I think one of them was Carl but I could be wrong, as that was one “foggy” night. I do remember the four of us made a pact that we found we could not keep; to attend each other’s wedding.

A year later I asked Carl to be my best man and he and his two buddies hopped the train and came west. He stayed for the wedding while his friends headed for the mountains. He did a great job and impressed my new wife. Carl got along great with my ex-principal and the wedding’s MC. I had forgotten to bring the wine to the wedding and the both of them made sure that the case did not go to waste, except for the one bottle they left for Maggie and me! I don’t know how their evening went but I do get flashbacks of the night “Lillie Marleen” was sung!

A year later one of Carl’s friends invited us to their wedding. Problem was it was in Germany and we just did not have the funds to travel. The pact had run its course.

That summer Maggie and I headed for Cape Cod, but we had to stop at Saratoga Springs where Carl and his wife lived and worked. Carl was working on the Fort and was dressed in the clothes of the day it was like stepping back into time. Maggie still remembers the day Carl drove us around the Saratoga Springs racetrack and being stopped by the police. That was some “wrong” turn, but a nice memory.

The years went by as our families grew and our careers took shape. Carl would have a daughter and I was blessed with a daughter and a son. Carl became a great teacher with most of his career in schools around the Worcester area. My career took me to two Canadian provinces and three states. Carl remained true to his calling while I answered a different muse. Mine lead me into education administration and coaching.

A few years ago Carl and I reconnected through the internet and we still pass around interesting emails. We both now have websites where we can visit each other and see what is going on in our lives.
It was during this time that Carl informed me that his wife had passed away and his daughter was attending college. Carl was in the last few years of his teaching career and I was in my last job as a principal of a school.
Since then some nice things have happen. We are both retired and this past summer we were able to get together and even though it has been years since we last saw each other it seemed like yesterday. Carl had another surprise for us. He introduced Patricia, the new lady in his life. Very few men find one special lady to share a life; Carl is one of the very few lucky ones to find two. They married in July of 2008. Unfortunately we could not make that wedding but we did get a chance to visit with them in June at Ned’s Point.

Carl still has that inquiring mind, a keen sense of humor, and a solid knowledge background that made him such a good friend, a great educator, and a terrific family man.

Good friends are hard to come by and you do not get too many in one lifetime. I count Carl among those and just hope he feels the same.

If I were ever to go on a quest to complete a “bucket list” it would be Carl that I would choose to accompany me.