The gentle hand on his shoulder belonged to the Steward who informed him that they were on their final approach and would be landing in 20 minutes. Awakening from his slumber, he reoriented himself to his surroundings and raised his seat to the upright position. Then he grabbed his laptop from the seat next to him, put it in its satchel, and placed it in the space in front of his feet. He had fallen asleep for most of the flight, dreaming about a time when what he aspired to be had not yet been realized.
After deplaning, Rich reflected on his three high school friends as he headed down the walkway on his way to Baggage. His first thought was of Jimmy and their championship celebration at the state basketball tourney; from that moment forward, they seemed to drift apart. Jimmy accepted the college athletic scholarship he deserved, got hurt in his sophomore year playing football against Wisconsin, and never played competitive sports again. He graduated from college with a BA in Economics, received an MBA from a prestigious graduate school, and became quite a successful businessman, owning a string of black radio stations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. He was married three times, all ending in divorce. After Jimmy graduated from high school, Richie never saw or spoke to him again. He simply disappeared. And though he was invited to all the class and athletic reunions, he always politely declined.
Estelle became a face in the crowd during the remainder of Richie’s junior and senior years. She didn’t go out for cheerleading her last year in high school, opting instead to take a more active role in other school activities, including various language clubs. She went on to college in New England, attending the same school as Sally Dill, with whom she remains close friends with to this day. Upon university graduation, she moved to France, received an advanced degree in linguistics, and found a position teaching multiple languages at the Sorbonne. No longer forced to live under her previous constraints, she wound up marrying a Caucasian teaching colleague and at last count, they had three daughters. She had found true happiness among the Parisians.
Rich took a circuitous route to where he found himself today. After graduating from high school, he accepted a full-ride college basketball scholarship from Coach Allen, who had left the high school coaching ranks after Richie’s junior year. Playing for Coach Allen, the teams won their conference championships and went deep into the NCAA tournament in both his junior and senior years. Upon graduation, Richie was drafted and served as an infantryman in Vietnam. Once he got out, he opted not to turn pro, since he was drafted in the second round by an NBA team in the Midwest. Instead, he worked for a year on the Jersey Shore while he put his life and priorities back together, the war having taken a toll on his psyche. When ready, he then went to law school, and as a lawyer, specialized in civil law for a period of time before he was contacted by Coach Allen to be one of his coaching assistants and an assistant professor in the university’s law department. The rest, as they say, is history. Eventually, he was asked to take over the head coaching position when Coach Allen retired, and over time, he surpassed all of his former coach’s achievements. His teams were known for the diversity of the players that he recruited---in keeping with the long-standing tradition that Coach Allen had started. In all the time that the two of them spent together, athlete, assistant coach, friend, and mentor…Coach Allen never once brought up that evening at the Palestra when he bailed the four of them out.
As Rich headed down the escalator, the former Sally Dill was waiting for him. He had reunited with her while on a basketball recruiting trip to New York City. He was with a bunch of buddies from his college days, and by chance, they had wandered into an oldies jukebox nightclub in Tribeca that was playing hits from the Fifties and Sixties. She was with a group of coworkers, out on the town, when she spotted him from across the room. They hadn’t seen each other since her senior year in high school, although they knew a little something about each other’s lives through mutual friends. Ironically, they didn’t have to say a word as their eyes locked on each other for the first time in a long time. In the background, Barbara Lewis’ 1963 hit single ‘Hello Stranger’ was playing with its prophetic refrain, ‘It seems like a mighty long time’. Both were single, and they dated for over two years before they were married. Sally’s stepfather gave away the bride.
Walking up to Richie (she still called him the name that he grew up with), the first words out of her mouth were, “Jimmy’s dead.”
“I know,” he said sadly. “I got an email message during the flight from Johnny Burris.”
“I let Estelle know, she was saddened by the news.”
Richie looked at Sally and then, moving towards her, he gave her a passionate kiss on the lips, one that celebrated life and their very existence. Then, holding her in both his arms as the baggage carousel started up, he said softly, “What an odyssey of self-discovery we travel, never knowing where the next road will lead. I’ve been lucky to have someone like you to share in the journey.” Sally didn’t say a word, choosing instead to give Richie a kiss for the ages!