A Story To Tell

Hollis Gillespie, my mentor writing teacher, said that if you write you will offend someone!!!! My idea of funny may not match another, keep writing. My heartache may not interest others from this world, write on. Typically a personal blog is just that, personal. Elie Wiesel spoke of whomever survives a test, whatever it may be, must tell the story. That is his or her duty. My short snippets of my daily life, do not hold the horrors of the Holocaust, just a story, my story.
This weekend I learned of a classmates death. Richard Cohee, was my friend. In fact he was a friend to all of us. Few people can traverse all groups of people in high school, Richard did. We called him Dickey Cohee, both names, it rolled off your tongue so easily. At one of our reunions, after a sweet hug, he told me, that I did not have to call him Dickey anymore!!!! I reminded him, that he was Dickey Cohee, and would forever be that to me. Richard was the name of a grown man, and I never saw any grown man called Richard!!! Forty years after high school, at our reunion hoopla, there was Dickey Cohee sweet as ever. The smile, from ear to ear, puffing on a big cigar, leaning in for a big smooch from me, and others. Dickey Cohee was my last date before I was married. We laughed so long and hard, I vividly remember howling over stories that we shared with each other. Of course we were young, there may had been other things shared, like a drink?? Some stories will remain MINE!!!
When I learned of his death, I screamed his name, his precious name. He will always be Dickey Cohee to me and I will cherish my story of knowing him.