Ron and Jim

Me and Jim-High school Re-union.

Ron and Jim were good friends. They both lived north of Churchill School in the rich area. At least it was rich to us who grew up in Marpole and lived in modest homes.

I was part of the Little Marpole Gang (There was a older gang, tougher than hell but that’s another story). We used to hang out at the swimming pool in Marpole. Just sitting in the grass and making fools of ourselves. This is where I first spotted Ron and Jim. They had decided to come down to Oak Park and see what the fuss was about. They were both pretty tough and in shape but still it took some courage to invade a bunch of hard asses. We accepted them and they kind of joined the gang.

Ron’s parents were very accepting and we would spend days up there. After I was married I would take my new dog up there and force Ike Shulman to go on walks. He told me he did appreciate it.

Jim’s parents were made of different stuff. Being from the lower working class of Marpole I was sensitive to posturing and people who thought they were better than me. Jim’s parents were rich snobs and didn’t like anyone who wasn’t of their background. I think I met them once. Once was enough. Terrible snobs.

They certainly didn’t like the people that Jim, was hanging out with. Jim managed to get a favour off them. They owned a cabin on Bowen Island and agreed for us to visit it. But NOT to go inside. They locked it. There were five or six of us and we had sleeping bags, all the needs to camp outside. One of us, a fairly heavy-set fellow had mastered the art of faring at will. He kept us laughing all night as he kept up a symphony of farts. We were on foot and left the next day. Aside from the farting maniac it was a boring time.

Jim became a layer and this is where the rot began. Ron and I had some business that we knew that Jim the lawyer could take care of. We went to his office and sat around while he perused our problem. Surprisingly he had adopted his parents snobbishness and it was a very uncomfortable meeting.

Jim met a lovely girl, Darlene, and fell in love. I think they got married pretty early on. Anyways I remember a party somewhere near Victoria where I met her. At one point we were talking between ourselves and she said “You don’t like Jim very much, do you.” I was astounded at her insight. I thought my growing dislike was well hidden. I tried to explain to her why I had trouble with his persona but was still flabbergasted and am not sure she understood.

Anyways I’m 80 now. Both Ron and Jim are dead along with a whole bunch of friends. The most fun now is remembering the past.

Australia

Karl Hausknecht/1991

Ron Shulman and I went to Australia in 2005. Ron’s mom, had died and his dad was in acute dementia. Our job was to clean up and Ready the house in Sydney. Part of the resources to deal with was a chunk of land in the north. Town of Bundy.

Karl heard we were going to Australia and volunteered to give us an itinerary of useful trips. We had to drive north from Sydney and we jumped at the chance to see a part of the country not normally available.

We did what we could for a short while cleaning up the house then hopped in the car and went north. If you didn’t know, Aussies drive on the wrong side of the road, and with Ron driving we had a few close calls. But the drive was beautiful and very entertaining. We got to see a lot of small towns where we were an oddity. Our accent was a mystery to the folks we met. Most people figured we were a type of American. Australia is a beautiful country with many exotic animals. The weirdest were the million of toads that tried to get across the roads. Apparently, the toads had been imported for an exotic food and, of course, some got loose and since they had no natural predators their population expanded into the millions.

We were in the country for about 3 to 4 weeks and it was time to close up shop. Took a plane back to Sydney and got to finishing up the disposal of the house. Karl’s daughter and family were in Sydney and we gave them a call to find out if they wanted any of the stuff we were throwing away. (We didn’t have the time to go through normal channels and dispose of the stuff. We had to literarily throw it away) The family came by and we managed to unload a whole bunch of great stuff. (I think the highlight was a very good and expensive vacuum cleaner.)

Nice young couple. We were happy to help them out.

That was it! We packed up and left the country. Stopping in Fiji on the way home. Met Lorraine and Kathi there. Great holiday!