July 18, 2016
I had lunch today with Bill Sterling.
It was supposed to include Eppard,
but he forgot.
That Bill wanted to come to the reunion, but wasn't
able to makes more sense now.
Bill
has been retired 14 years, and wishes he was still working.
His open heart surgery was 21 years ago.
His doctor says, "No more surgery."
He has eight stents.
The doctor says, "No more stents."
His diabetes requires daily
medicines, testing, and shots.
He also has a lung doctor and a
foot doctor.
Janet doesn't let him drive
anymore.
We
talked a lot about his Brick Monroe school class mates that included Art,
George, Troeglen, and the Pulse sisters.
He mentioned that Thom had told him
23 of our classmates were no longer with us. We spent some time on Art and
George.
Talking about deceased classmates,
classmates who have lost spouses, and classmates who have lost children, brought
home to me the blows that have been struck.
I learned that Bill lost a son to a
criminal act while on the job in 1991.
He has another son who lives in
Denver, selling medical supplies in a three state area, and another son, age 54,
who still lives at home.
He
still acts and sounds like the Bill Sterling we knew back when.
A little louder because he is hard
of hearing.
A little calmer because he is in
his late 70's.
A
good time was had by all.
Maybe even Janet.
Who, I learned as we prepared to
depart, had been sitting in the car reading a book while we enjoyed our extended
lunch.
I went out with him and told her
that the guy who didn't show was demanding that we do it again, that it might be
awhile, but, next time, I would call the no show to make sure it didn't slip his
mind again and, if she would get Bill to gathering, I would get him home.
Home is still in Roosterville.
Thom,
you might pass this along to Martha.
It might take the edge off his no
show to be Woody one more time.
Interestingly, we ran into Don
Smith and Gary Moore at the restaurant.
I introduced Bill, and Don made
Bill's day.
He said, "Oh, I remember you.
You sang Tutti Frutti."
Come to think of it, being
remembered for a role played sixty years ago ought to make anybody's day.
Mike