Friends And The Best of What Was.

Just after lunch every day, she pumped past my house on her new bicycle. She was on her way to play with our friend. Not me, though, I was stuck in the house.

My old bike lay on its side in the yard, looking as forlorn as I felt.

That summer, I was sure there was no fairness in life. At 9, and a year older than my childhood friend, I had to take a nap each afternoon while she was free to go play. Envy is a childish emotion, but I was, after all, a child.

It was the year of the polio epidemic, or the one I remember, anyway. My father, being a great believer in resting during the heat of the day, had ordered the naps as a precaution against polio. His theory? It can't hurt.

He put the pallet by the front door to catch the breeze and I was sure she knew I could see her pass by. Otherwise, why didn't she go around the block the other way?

We all know that unfairness doesn't begin or end at nine. For one thing, I had to take naps again the next summer. My father had a long memory.

During those years we were bosom buddies one minute, mortal enemies the next. In a small town, as in all neighborhoods, that can happen as seldom as several times a day, if your lucky and if your parents stay out of it. Most of the time, we were and ours did.

Later on, when we began driving, her parents had a newer car than mine did and more money for gas and new clothes. You know, all the essentials of a teenager's life. She didn't gloat and, by then, I'd outgrown the envy. And, no longer, were we mortal enemies, even for a moment.

Funny about life and fairness, it evens out if you look at the overall picture. We've both had our joys and sorrows. Though we've each moved several times over the years, to big cities for our livelihoods, and to small towns...perhaps drawn by the best of what was.

Lookin' back I can say, I never had polio and she's made one of the finest women I've every known. When I sent her this column, she had her husband make a frame for it and a picture she had of the two of us on our bikes that first year we had them. It's hanging here in my office and I treasure it along with the memories it brings forth.