Random Thoughts from Days Gone By

Sometimes I forget how much time passes between these posts. I have tried to write this one three times  and it is very hard to deal with the ending. If any one could be my twin brother from a different mother it would be Mike Lane. Mike is on the left in this picture and I am on the right. And if I had continued traveling the path this world so desperately wanted me to take, I am sure I would have found an end much like the one that found Mike. Both of us were drawn to the same things this world offered. Both of us sought them with all the zeal our souls could muster. His story amplifies the magnitude of God's grace in my life and the differences between a fate like Mike's and mine can be measured with a micrometer.

Mike was a melancholic man. A very deep thinker. To illustrate this my mind wanders to a scene in Casablanca where Humphrey Bogart is being interviewed by Conrad Vedit (Major Strasser). Bogey is asked about his nationality to which Mike Lane in the Bogey role replies "I'm a drunkard" laughter ensues and I as Captain Renault defend him by adding "That makes Rick a citizen of the world". Mike, no doubt, was a citizen of the world. Mike ran the buy back counter at Long's Bookstore where students would bring their books back to the store after they had finished a course in hopes of getting enough money to buy books for the up coming quarter. Mike would look over the merchandise, flip through a few pages in a catalog of used books (the preverbal black book for his industry) then he would state in a matter of fact way a price. "$35.00"/"I'm a drunkard"... zero emotion, zero empathy. Neutral was the order of the day. He didn't care what you thought or what the amount meant to a struggling student. He didn't want to hear your story either. He only wanted to hear from that person "I'll take it" or "Thanks anyway". Just like Bogey in that scene "Arrest Me" or "Piss off" any other conversation was immaterial. And while he was not cruel in any conversation that might occur beyond one that included what he wanted to hear. His responses were measured, direct, and most importantly unemotional.

Like myself, Mike was an imposing presence and just slightly shorter than me. Many at Mama's who have seen this picture were amazed that he was ever this "small". But, one thing is clear here, his smile reveals a desire to experience great things. And if you were his friend there was no greater confidante, no greater empathizer, and no one greater to commiserate with on the ride we called life. His world view could be summed up in a Greatful Dead song "...I may be going to hell in a bucket but at least I'm enjoying the ride".

YouTube - Grateful Dead - Hell In A Bucket - 06-26-94
   

Enjoy he did. Mike often closed the place with us and more often than not "the faithful" (a group that varied in size) would elect to finish the night at a "real bar" (during my time Mama's only sold beer and wine and closed at 1am, It still closes "early" but is a full service tavern today). Mike's drink was "Old Bushmills" and while in his presence it was my favorite too. His laughter was infectious. His spirit could soar when he was well lubricated. He dreamed of selling everything and moving to Belize to be a beach bum. He would quote you things about the country how he was going to get there. You could almost swear you were barefoot and the sand and surf were rushing between your toes in his presence.

Mike and I shared a passion for food, and drink, and joy in life. Both of us were closet romantics with huge inferiority complexes (I can say that now). We also shared a passion for the same waitress who worked at the bar. Neither of us realized the full extent of this passion for ourselves but it ran mightily through us and we would commiserate accordingly as we observerd the small stream of "proper" suiters enter and exit her life. As hard as it is to write this story. Writing her story would be "a stretch" for me. Not too long after this waitress went off to marry "the right man" (good catholic girls marry good catholic boys, right?). Mike fell into a deep depression and over the next few years he grew morbidly obese and eventually succumbed to the health issues that arise from that situation. It would be unfair to say that the marriage of this waitress sent him into this depression. That time began at the very end of my time at Mama's and I was not there during the period of his decline. But the timing fits, Our passions fit, And had I not found my savior... I think our fates would have been similar. Brothers, especially twin brothers know these things.

To Mike, with Old Bushmills in my hand held high and with fondest memories:

"May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head.
be always strong.
May you be in heaven
a half hour before
the devil knows you're dead"
Irish Toast

If you "enter" the Mama's Pasta and Brew website and play with the virtual remote control you will soon find Mama's Regular Regular Hall of Fame and it is no accident that the first inductee of the first hall of fame class is Kenny "The Plumber" Klemstine. Just like Cheers had Cliff and Norm. Mama's had Kenny and Jim (the second name that appears on the Hall of Fame list). Kenny was a fixture at the bar on weekdays from 3:30 till whenever he thought Happy Hour was over most days it was around 6 sometimes it was a little later and even fewer times it was a little earlier. Kenny drove a yellow and green panel truck and would park it in a triangular patch of concrete that existed in the alley due to the odd shape of the back of Longs bookstore. It was big enough to park 1 and a half cars and not block traffic in either alley. There was a No Parking Sign that indicated you would be towed if you parked there but the regulars knew that Longs put that sign up and since Jim Cluccus managed Long's there was no way Kenny's van would ever get towed. I wish I could say I have a picture of Jim as well but he was very tall (at least 6'8") and very intimidating. He didn't want to participate in my "non-sense" of taking pictures of everyone. And who was I to argue with a guy who could win the part of Paul Bunyan in any play audition without saying a word. Twenty plus years later I wish I could have found a way to get that picture because just like Forest Gump would say about Jenny and himself. Kenny and Jim were "like peas and carrots". If it was happy hour Kenny and Jim would be sitting together at the bar drinking beer and reflecting on the day. Kenny was more of a easy going philosophical person. He was always interested in the regulars and what they were doing. And he always had a story to tell. Jim was a matter of fact man. The world was black and white with no shades of grey. He had no time for you if your view was black or any shade of grey and if you were white you might get a nod of approval. Of course what was black or white was purely subjective and if there was any one on this planet that could get Jim to adjust the "color" on his monochrome world view it was Kenny. Kenny had a deep interest in guns and airplanes. He flew on a bomber in WWII but I don't remember his assignment. After the war A friend set him up in the plumbing business and by the time I met him he knew everything there was to know about plumbing. But when he sat at the bar. The only topic you could not talk about was plumbing. Quiting time was quiting time and Kenny was one who valued leaving "the office" at the office. I heard that Kenny and Jim have since moved on to their eternal happy hour and I'd like to think that God has prepared a place like Mama's for all of us cause there was a comfort in seeing these men and the depth of thier friendship and I'd like to think they are sitting thier now reviewing the day and enjoying each other's company.

Ester Craw had blue eyes but she couldn't be 5 foot on her tippy toes but every Tuesday night for most of my years at Mama's this 60 + year old women would pack Mama's to the rafters with college kids singing vaudeville classics like "Bicycle Built for Two", "Ain't She Sweet", "Five Foot 2" etc. and after everyone was lubricated well enough she'd herd all of the patrons into the alley to do the "Hokey Pokey" and the Chicken Dance.

Ester had/has spent her whole life playing the accordion (I don't know if Ester is still kicking. I Goggled her and there is a German language page describing an accordion festival in Florida with a picture of her from 2004) . She even toured with Bob Hope during World War II. And while she spent Tuesdays at Mama's most other nights she would be performing at Deibel's in German Village.

My first introduction to Mama's occurred when my roommate Grant Morgenstern who frequented Ester's Performances invited me to come with him one night and I obliged. I quickly became a regular patron of the place and got a job there within 6 months. To this day I don't know what prompted me to apply there.  I had a good job already and really didn't need the work but it had a great fringe benefit and that was I could drink beer while I worked for free (you win some and you lose some and I think the owners got the short end of the stick on that one with me ;-). I think Gene hired me because I was 6'2" and 250 lbs. And I think they thought I would make many a person think twice about starting something in there. One day a patron called me Chef-Boyd-Ar-Dee after seeing a TV commercial at the bar, I kinda liked it so I let the name stick. But I would later shorten it to..."The Chef"...again I digress.

I usually worked Tuesday Nights and was known to sing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"... er... Well...let’s just say I got to sing it as it was not my singing that drew the multitude of people on those evenings. Ester's big draw was passing out cheap plastic "leis" and then encouraged everyone to pass them around by kissing the recipient. Many a patron (mostly male) would be able to brag they got "lei-ed" at Mama's. Though many a girl would find ways to have a group date at Mama's so they could communicate "Hey You! Have you thought about me?" to unsuspecting guys without uttering a word.

Tuesday's at Mama's was a light hearted and fun time. I so rarely have days that are as care free as I felt then and the songs we sang with Ester have reinforced that in my mind to this day.