I met Bill back in the 1970s when we were both working at the grocery store, Fisher, Fazio, Costa. Bill and I became fast friends. Bill was an amazing guy, and one of my absolute best of friends while I lived in Ohio until the mid-1980s.
I will never forget one 4th of July when Bill and I were shooting bottle-rockets from the front porch of the Fairview Park house. We were aiming at the stop sign across the street, thinking, “what harm is there in that?”
But we found, much to our dismay, that lessons in stupidity come in many forms. One of us shot off a rocket, which barely missed the stop sign, but which had no problem zooming straight onto the porch of the house across the street that sat just beyond the stop sign. The bottle rocket ricocheted around the front porch before exploding, at which time Bill and I ran into your house like two frightened little kids, hiding below the front window and peeking out to see if anyone came out of the house.
Lucky for us no one came out of the house, but we came to our senses and kept an eye on the porch to make sure that we hadn’t started a fire.
What can I say? We were in our mid-twenties and should have known better, but we didn’t. Oops. We did get a good laugh out of our stupidity.
I will also never forget a less funny time when I almost took one of Bill’s fingers off with a claw hammer. We were demolishing a shed in Dale and Sandy Ross’s back yard, and Bill grabbed at a board lying on the ground while I swung the claw of my hammer at the board to try to lift it.
Unfortunately, I caught Bill’s finger instead of the board. Bill said a few choice words but kept on working once his finger was bandaged. I felt and still feel horrible about that incident.
I have lots of fond memories of being with Bill as well as with Dawn, and later Billy, Brian, and Jessica. Y’all brought lots of joy and laughter to my life, and I am very thankful.
Rest in peace my good friend.
