Friday 55.........

In the Fall of "68", I pledged and joined a Fraternity at our local college. Phi Delta Tau!!
We had the only Fraternity house on campus, and we partied like there was no tomorrow. Our pledging process was quite difficult, and those that made it through became very close friends.
The close friends that I have to this day are my Fraternity Brothers..Alex, Berky, Wiggy, et al!
In the Spring of "71", a young brash kid just out of high school, by the name of Edward Jack Kintner joined Phi Delta Tau. He went by the name of Ned, and we called him "Deadly Nedly"!
For some odd reason, we became very close. We loved to hunt and fish...We loved to smoke and drink..We loved party and go to concerts. We had a blast!!..Ned was never very book-smart, and like all Flintoids at the time, if you got a chance to work for GM, you took it! So at age 20, he started work on the assembly line at GM. I finished my degree(Eventually), but we remained very close friends. We went to many many concerts, we closed many many bars... Ned, myself, and Alex, used to go fishing every June to Northern Ontario for the greatest Wall-Eye fishing in the world! The first time I ever rode a Harley-Davidson, was Ned's Harley at Alex's wedding reception. After that I was "Hooked on Hogs"!! We went to Florida together for Spring Break one year, and drove strait-thru blasting "Radar-Love" by Golden Earring, and "Dead Babies" by Alice Cooper the whole way down on his 8-Track..
Ned transfered to a Lansing GM plant 20 years ago, and when he was 50, he retired. He moved to a beautiful spot on the western part of Michigan after he retired, and never married! You could never tie that boy down! He still loved to hunt, and fish, and ride his Harley!!
Last Monday, Ned had a massive stroke and lay paralyzed in a hospital in Muskegon ever since he was found unconscious by a neighbor on Thursday. He was expected to live and pull through it, but this morning I got a call from his brother Tom( also a Fraternity Brother), and he said that Ned went to sleep last night, and never woke up!! You might as well have Gut-Shot me!!
I have been meaning to call Ned for about the last 6 month's but didn't...
Now I never can...
When Tom ended his conversation with me today, the last thing I said to him was "Tom, I love you"...He replied.."Galen, I love you"...Everything else was understood!!!!!
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We had great fun Nedly,
My long and loyal friend
We thought we were immortal
That the party would never end
But the years catch up to you
Time is never on your side...
So buckle-up, and rev it up..
For that long final ride!!!
Soon enough brother...We'll be riding side by side!!