WE TOOK OUT A DAY FROM OUR TRIP to visit a guy I have known since kindergarten. While we have always had very different life styles, we have always been friends. He has always been somewhat wild. Some of his friends in high school, for example, were among the most disreputable kids in school. Given the type of crowd he ran with, it is not surprising that he was involved in drinking and other "bad boy" behavior. In contrast, when I was in high school, my role model was Pat Boone, the then popular, milk-drinking, clean-living pop singer.
When my friend was in college, he took a year off to live in America's Sodom, New Orleans. Living not far from The House of the Rising Sun, he must have had quite a year. Over the years, he drifted to Las Vegas, America's Gomorrah. Finding Las Vegas more to his liking, he ended up living there for many years running poker rooms for such places as Bellagio.
When he returned to our wholesome hometown for a few years, I thought that he had finally seen the light. My hopes were dashed when I heard that he had moved back to Las Vegas. I was surprised to see that he may have finally seen the light. He has been living a clean life-style, including hiking throughout the mountains in the West.
How nice of you to have tired to help this lost soul. That Pat Boone behavior must have been what mom saw in you at the Sig Pi House in Carbondale. How lucky I have been to pattern my behavior after you.
ReplyDeleteThere are many others who have noted that you have followed in my path.
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