It was a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon in late May, 1970. I always went to the 5 PM Mass at St Edmunds Catholic Church to avoid the regular crowds. Once there I stood in my usual place, which was back by the exit door. This day there was this other guy standing right where I would stand. We almost bumped into each other as the mass proceeded. He looked perhaps a bit older than me, reminding me of the actor Brandon DeWilde, the kid who played the boy in the western movie Shane. He went up for communion, came back to his spot with his head down. I noticed how he seemed to really ‘ Get into’ the religious mode with his head down deep in prayer. Then the mass ended and we both began walking home in the same direction. We exchanged our names as I asked him if he was still in college. John said he had just gotten out of the Air Force and was deciding what college he would choose. I told him I went to Brooklyn College and was also looking for another school. I wanted to transfer to New Mexico Highlands to play football, as I heard they always welcomed good players to that school. Their coach was known as a great offensive mind, and I played wide receiver. John told me he happened to have their school’s catalogue at home and invited me over to borrow it. That’s how our friendship began.
When we sat there in his tiny bedroom checking out the catalogue I noticed he had a slew of them. I cracked up when I saw ‘ Florida Bible’ and a few other religious oriented ones. John said he always wanted to study Christianity and one day become a minister. He laughed when I told him I always wanted to be a bookie. Then the conversation moved onto horseracing. It seems we both were raised by fathers who loved the sport and took us to the track many times. As Rick Blaine said to Captain Renault at the end of Casablanca ” This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, and it did just that. Before you knew it we were taking the bus to Belmont Racetrack to spend our little money on the ponies. One funny incident was when John and I went with my dad to the track one summer afternoon. We were sitting in the 3rd floor grandstand, with our programs in hand as the horses turned for home. My dad’s pick and my pick both finished behind the winner. I remembered that John had mentioned the winning horse before the race. I looked up to John’s seat in the next aisle and said congrats. You won! John had this shit eating grin on his face and began throwing away two tickets. What gives I asked? John said he had the 4 horse to win, a loser, the 7 horse to place, a loser, and the 2 horse to show, a winner. My dad laughed. ” You bet $ 6 bucks and got back $ 3 dollars on your show bet.” But, that was Johnny.
Our friendship grew that summer. Johnny and I would go to clubs in Bay Ridge looking to meet girls, and had a blast. The quick rat a tat jokes would fly from both our mouths as we entertained whatever girls we met. Sometimes we wound up going on double dates. Johnny did not drive so we took my father’s car. One Saturday night we took out two friends, Sally and Susan. It was a beautiful July evening so we took them to Coney Island to go on a few rides. When we went on the Go Karts, it had rained the day before, so the track was filled with puddles. Johnny, since he never learned to drive a car, was driving his cart very slow, as the rest of us zoomed by him around the track. It seemed that both of us were into wearing white buck slip on shoes, and every time I went passed him the water would splash all over his shoes. Being a humorous type of guy Johnny just took on the brunt of the humor and would give his Burt Reynolds look and say ‘ Yeah, very funny very funny.’ When I dropped him off at his date’s house Johnny told me he was going to hang out with her awhile, and would take the bus home. The next day when I called him to see how things went, Johnny told me what had happened. It seems that his father was worried about him later that night, so he drove over to the address Johnny had given him earlier to find him. Well, as chance would have it, Johnny did not stay long at Sally’s house and headed home by bus. Meanwhile, his father was turning onto Sally’s block and ran into a slew of fire trucks that blocked all the cars. It seems his father was stuck there for over two hours, and Johnny had made it home already. This was the era of no cell phones, so the comedy continued until his old man returned home.
The time flew so quickly, and within three years I was married to my first wife and Johnny wound up moving to New Mexico. I didn’t see Johnny until 1980 when he returned to visit New York with his own wife Maria, and I already had two sons. The humor was still there as was the love. As the years went by I kept in touch with Johnny as best I could. We sent each other birthday and Christmas cards every year, as both our lives encountered pitfalls. He is not doing so well now and I have my own health issues, but goodness gracious the memories abound. One surmises that it is those memories that fuel our energy to keep us going… Johnny and me.
PA Farruggio