For My Little Buddy

My Little Buddy walked into our lives when he was about three years old - just before his daddy died unexpectedly of a heart attack. He, his mom and baby brother moved back to live with my mother and me. He was never shy and had "girl friends" everywhere he went. I think his first was Mickey who lived just down the street from us and when he would see her coming in from work, he would run to meet her and greet her with "Know what, Mickey?" Then he would proceed to tell her of something he had done that day or of some wonder he had discovered. Mickey still asks about him whenever I talk with her and has to tell me how cute he was coming to greet her every day. There were two other "girl friends" who lived next door - Connie and Janet who taught him to ride his bike and their mom was "mom" to him as well.

We soon bought my aunt's big old house because it was on the bus line and had more bedrooms. While I was burning fifty years of paint off the columns and trim of the house, My Little Buddy would follow me around and sweep up the old paint to keep everything neat and he'd get me a cold glass of tea or ice water from time to time. He then got dubbed as "my little legs" - I could never begin to count the steps that he saved me. He even painted the walls of a room upstairs while I worked in another room and when he finished his painting, I did the trim work. His painting was better than most adults' work. When I sanded all the floors in the house, again he was there with the vacuum to clean up. And yes, here too he had a "girl friend". She lived next door and her name was Bonnie and he always greeted her with his "Know what, Bonnie?". When she and her husband moved she gave him her big stuffed French Poodle to remember her by.

When I built book shelves, he was there to help hold the lumber and again sweep up the mess. Needless to say, it did not take him long to learn the name of each tool and which tool was used for what job. When he was about ten years old, he tilled up a garden plot while other boys his age were not even allowed to touch a lawnmower even when it was not running.

My Little Buddy spent his first three years of school in St. Andrew's Catholic School where he received the Award for Good Citizenship. He and his little brother also went to the Christmas parties and the spring cook outs there at St. Vincent's Boys Home with my Spanish Club until the home shut down. In high school he was a member of his high school band as one of the trumpet players and of the soccer team as goalie. As goalie, he was scored on only once in two years and was written up in US Today for his accomplishment. He was also active in BSA until his junior year in high school when there was a conflict in the scheduling of activities.

After high school, he attended our local community college and then transfered to Radford University. At Radford, one of his advisors placed him in an organic chemistry class which he passed although he had not had a chemistry class before. He was listed in the National Dean's List while at Radford. Throughout his high school and college years, he worked part time and full time during the summers. He first worked at Mick-or-Mack's, where one of his jobs in the evening was to go out back and run the homeless away from searching the dumpster for food. Needless to say, he could not do it - he just walked out of sight and waited a reasonable time before going back into the store. He later worked with Richard Blankenship doing electrical work and then with Jerry Aker building new homes. He started to go into law but decided that he could not defend someone that he strongly felt was guilty. He changed his major to Outdoor Recreation and after graduation worked with the county recreation department for a while.

My Little Buddy is now back into building and re-modeling and has started his own business. If you are wondering about the song, he IS the Happy Wanderer - over the years, he has traveled from one end of the USA to the other - from Connecticut to Florida to Texas, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Alaska and the list goes on. He has tipped his hat and made many wonderful friends every where he has gone. I think though that the thing that impresses me the most with him is his attitude towards children. He is so like my father in this respect. He never raises his voice to a child but will take the time to sit down with them to explain why they should or should not do something. He is always willing to take time to teach them how to swim, to kayak, safety in hiking, any skills that he has to share. He has worked D.A.R.E. camps and the kids loved him! He is considerate and thoughtful where family is concerned and is always there to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. And last but not least, he is a wonderful cook and also has done some beautiful detailed Christmas ornaments that people told him it couldn't be done because the detail was too fine! There again he is like his grandfather - he can do anything he decides he wants to do!

Auntie M
Click on the picture and run your mouse over it.

Joey is the one in the center with the white cap.

Juni 2004