Simpler Times

FRIENDS AND THE JOURNEY OF LIFE

By Charles D. Williams, M.D., FACR, FAAP (“Pedro”)

Some of the best antiques are old friends and I visited with some of my old friends and fraternity brothers this past weekend at St. Simons Island. These were the people I had lived with, studied with, and played with during my undergraduate studies at Mercer. Most I had not seen in 35 years. I pulled out my old fraternity blazer and it had shrunk. I then pulled out my jersey and it had also shrunk. This had been a good weekend. Nothing is wasted that makes happy memories.

I saw friends and faces that had been so dear to me, but the years had gone by and some could no longer be with us. As we gathered on this day and as I looked around the room into those faces, the reality set in that time really does pass. After a while I did not see judges, lawyers, other doctors, teachers, and business people. I saw friends. I saw family. I saw a part of me.

We had all been on the same train ride 35 years ago heading to our individual goals, but the true joy was the trip and the true joy was what was happening along the way. We all had initially started the train ride with the same fears of tomorrow. If I had it to do over, I would have stopped counting the miles and watched some sunsets, studied harder on my second organic chemistry test, gone barefooted more, had more laughter, and spent more time with my friends and appreciated them more. You just can’t seem to make it up in one weekend, but I tried.

Upon arrival for the weekend I saw Pope Hamrick and Bert Carmichael. Bert had become a chaplin and Pope was a judge in Daytona Beach, FL. Bert had a bet with Pope that I wouldn’t be there. Dick Porter, an attorney from Cairo, GA, kept the money. At the banquet that evening I was requested to present the money to the winner. I took the opportunity to talk and talk and told them that I didn’t want to insult any of my fraternity brothers, but I heard that many of them had become attorneys. I also knew most of ‘em when they were first admitted to the bar, long before they attended law school. I assured them that I supported attorneys and most of my medical colleagues supported attorneys. I recommended that they send their own children to medical school, so they could also support attorneys. The two lone doctors in the crowd clapped. I then gave Judge Hamrick and Chaplin Carmichael their money back with special instructions that judges and preachers shouldn’t be bettin’.

We returned to our tables and Pope reminded me that John Parks, now an attorney in Americus, GA, was his roommate, but John was not exactly tidy in those days. One day Pope called a conference between himself and John, instructing John that they were going to divide up the room for cleaning purposes. Pope then asked John, “Which half of the room do you want to clean?” John replied, “I’ll take the top half.”

Another story was then told about Jerry Vanderhoef, another judge who was from Alabama, and Phil Addy, a farmer from Preston, GA. In their college days Phil decided to take Vanderhoef home with him for some dove hunting. Upon arrival Vanderhoef exclaimed, “I don’t have a hunting license!” Phil explained, “We don’t need any. It ain’t hunting season.” Later Vanderhoef shot a real nice big white one – a pigeon.

As the stories were flowing, David Sims, one of my best friends, told us about Dean Knight’s wife. Mrs. Knight was driving on the sidewalk across campus to pick up Dean Knight outside the Knight Building. It was raining. As Mrs. Knight approached, David and Pope stuck up their thumbs hitchhiking even though they were only going another 50 feet. To their surprise, she stopped and picked them up. As they proceeded down the sidewalk in Mrs. Knight’s car, they approached Granger Rich, a blind fraternity brother, coming down the same sidewalk. They warned Mrs. Knight that he was blind and that she should stop. They let the windows down and David asked Granger if he wanted a ride. Granger stuck his head in the window and said some ugly words about driving on the sidewalk that only upperclassmen would understand. David quickly let the window back up and said, “Mrs. Knight, we don’t know who that foul mouthed person is. He must be a Sigma Nu.” Mrs. Knight smiled and said, “Dean Knight is a Sigma Nu.”

It was fun telling each other old stories. However the real fun was seeing each other and being next to each other one more time. We continued to exchange stories and memories. We talked about old time and good times. We talked about what we had done and should have done, but didn’t. As we were talking, time went by and the weekend just like the past 35 years creeped upon us and came to an end. We hugged and smiled and went our separate ways hoping for all of us another tomorrow.

Reprinted with author permission from More Simpler Times.

Dr. Williams’ sequel book, More Simpler Times, can be purchased from the Capital Medical Society. All proceeds from the book are donated to the Capital Medical Society Foundation’s We Care Network program. The total sales from his books have raised over $39,000 for the CMS Foundation’s We Care Network.