Sunday, June 21, 2026
The day before Paul passed away, I had a doctor’s appointment. The nurse that brought me back was Gordy Shroeder’s daughter Barb and she recognized the name. Gordy Schroeder was good friends with our parents and he loved to play piano at the Fort Washington legion post. Barb and I reminisced about all the great times we had as kids at the legion. But my thoughts went immediately to Paul. A premonition? I don’t think so. More likely it was because Paul and I had on more than one occasion talked about the fun we kids had at the legion. Gordy playing piano at the Christmas parties, parades along Bethlehem Pike, Birch beer, clam bakes, climbing on the canon.
But then any time I spent with Paul was fun. He was a year older than me so I kind of looked up to him. We were best buddies.
As kids we played with our plastic army men in the dirt that Uncle Bud had sifted the rocks out of, set fire to some of those army men to hear the neat zzzip-zzzip sound when the flaming molten plastic dripped to the ground, had sleep overs at 20 East and at 1318, skate boarded down Abington Avenue or St. Andrews (Malibu) or Glengarry (Dead Man’s Curve), sailed (and blew up or set afire) model ships at Pastorious Pond, sorted through 5000 pennies to try in vain to find an SVBD, melted lead and make lead soldiers on the third floor of 20 East, got into mischief (and drew grandpop’s ire) in the shop above the 8122 garage, got our fingernails and toenails painted by the girls while we slept at the Wee House, served newspapers out of the step van, played with slot cars at the Fun Time Hobby Center in Glenside, rode bikes off the dock right into Princeton Harbor.
As young adults, we did the stupid things that young adults do at Avalon, up at Ursinus and at Watkins Glen. As mature adults we saw each other’s kids grow from infants to fine adults.
As old men, we went to model train meets, drove to the Cammal cabin a few times with three hour long non-stop conversations each way about nothing…and everything.
Paul was always fun to be around. But anyone that met Paul already knows that.
