05.12.06
“He looked to me to be the eyes of age as he spoke right out. He talked of life; He talked of life…” Jerry Jeff Walker
So there we were on the road walking toward the airport, when a car pulled over and asked if we needed a ride and where we were going? We told the man inside we were on our way into the airport to try to catch a ride with a small plane and that we were heading for California. He said he would give us a ride all the way to Sacramento and pay all the expenses. He had been working on the Alaskan Pipeline for months, had lots of money saved up and was looking for company - someone to listen to his stories. I love stories. We were also pretty broke by now and wondering how we would make it all the way to San Francisco, where we had found out X’s other sister was staying. This fellow had a good safe vibe, we were very good at vibing people out by now, and was an older guy that looked pretty lonely. We jumped in the back and off we went. This guy was fascinating! As tired as I was, I stayed awake listening to his stories about working on the pipeline and of being a welder in the Navy, working underwater in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. He had grown children and grandchildren that he was out of touch with and no other relationships. He was very sad and alone. After many hours, we pulled into a small town in Nevada. He bought all our meals, paid for a motel room for us, and gave us money to gamble with. He kept telling us he was just very happy and relieved to have people to spend time with and share his life stories. Sadly, I can’t remember his name. I don’t remember much about his stories either, but was completely entranced at the time. I remember feeling a little like a prostitute, taking money to hang out with him. I even said something to him about it. He kept saying that he had more money than he could ever spend and wanted to share it. He didn’t look at it as buying us. He liked us, too. He was aware that we could have tried to rob him at any time. It was unbelievable how much money this guy was carrying around with him, but he could tell that we were just good-hearted kids who wouldn’t hurt anyone. It’s always amazed me how life takes you where you need to go just at the right time. If we had gotten a ride to Wyoming, or figured out earlier that we needed to go to Denver, we never would have met him. When he dropped us off in Sacramento, we all felt sad to leave. This was more than 30 years ago, and I can still see his face. I sure wish I could remember his name…