Jim McNary 1709

This post is titled the way it is, not because it is all about Jim, but just because his name was the first thing that came up this afternoon.

It started with a couple of beers, not that we drink in the afternoon, (okay that even makes me chuckle). The beers brought out a lot of memories that have not surfaced in years for either of us. I can share mine here, but Joyce’s memories belong to her and are not for public consumption, but for me, I do not have that issue as you well know.

Back to Jim; he and I were best friends in grade school. We were both obsessed with war and constantly practicing wrestling and what we knew as judo because we were going to join the army or the marines, at least when we were 10-11 years old. We even mused that whichever service we joined would be overjoyed to have us. One problem we had was Jim seemed to always steal my girlfriends from me. I was not happy about that but went along with it then.

Once high school came along, Jim went to a different school and we drifted apart. That said, Jim continued charming all of my ex-girlfriends. I suppose there was some kind of contest there that I was not even aware of, (not that I would have won anyway) but it perhaps existed. Jim ended up impregnating one of my ex-girlfriends some years later after I was in the navy. I can’t blame him because she was very nice looking as I remember. Jim being the guy he was, he waited until after she delivered to marry her. That is the last I ever heard, so I do not know how the whole thing worked out for them or even if that was true.

I did have a girlfriend Mary Ann Stranz (not sure about the last name spelling) that Jim never got because she came along after we unknowingly parted ways. I met her at a teen-town dance at the church. She was an uptight Catholic girl that I think of everytime I hear Billy Joel sing “Only the good die young”, listen to the song and you will understand. We could not date during the week (high school) but we would meet at the local library (doing research), well sitting outside in the car and talking. One night we were there and she was upset that she would never be able to get married for family reasons. I remember I was considering joining the navy and I consoled her saying if when I got out of the navy and was still single, I would marry her (that condition did not happen because I was already married to Joyce by then) and I did not even know where she was those years later. Mary Ann and I were dating and I had my 55 Studebaker Commander which was a wonderful car to me, but Mary Ann pushed me to sell it and get a Chevy. One night we were to go out on a date but the battery went dead in the Studebaker so I went to her house in my dad’s Chrysler station wagon. We had 5 kids in the family with 1 last one on the way, so without enough seating in the wagon dad just folded down the back seat and threw an old mattress in back for all the kids to sit when we went places. I never gave it a thought but when Mary Ann came out and looked in she backed away like the devil himself was waiting there for her. We did not go out that night. In my innocence, rather than get rid of the Studebaker, I got rid of her instead.

After we parted ways I was at Ponticello’s pizza on Natural Bridge in Saint Louis with other friends. The time frame was when the Ray Charles song “Hit the road Jack” was very popular. Everyone went to Ponticello’s for the great pizza. I went to the jukebox and put the coin in and selected “Hit the road Jack” because I liked the song. I did not know Mary Ann was across the dining area at the time. She had taken up with some guy named Jack. She heard the song, saw me walking away from the jukebox back to where my friends were. She came running over and was yacking at me thinking I was mad about her and Jack and my playing the song was to hurt her. I did not even know she was there until she came across the dining room. Maybe I dodged a bullet there.

Again today with our conversations Joyce and I had friends that we both knew, but we never met until years afterward. The reference to the library and Ponticello’s pizza above were both hangouts we both frequented but never met. There was  Steak and Shake within the same two blocks where we both used to hang out, but never met. Hodges Roller Rink in Saint Louis was another place we both went frequently, but never met. Chain of Rocks amusement park, another place we both went but never met there.

What more can I say, but despite many opportunities, we never met until the time was right. I firmly believe in two things. One, timing is everything in the world. Two, the hand in the sky always has things planned out in his time, not always ours.