I Knew I Knew Him

I Knew I Knew Him

May 2022

West Virginia

After a long drive from Alabama,  I made it to West Virginia to explore the New River Gorge NP in the afternoon.  I wanted to take a tour of the bridge and then make my way back home to Philly.  But I discovered that I was still an hour away from the bridge and tours were filled for the day and I would have to come back tomorrow if I could still get a reservation.  I was annoyed with the situation and with me.  Fuck.  I didn't want to stay here for the night.  I was ready to go home after being on the road fro a few days.

As I was sitting in my car, being a crybaby, I noticed a man.  He was parked in the car beside me and his face just spoke to me.  He seems so familiar, I thought for sure I knew this man.  I knew this face.  He looks to be about my age.  But I couldn't place him.  Then I noticed that he noticed I was staring at him.  So I quickly turned away.

Finally, he stepped out of his car and I saw that he was wearing an old Tommy More High School tee shirt on and I knew immediately that he had to be from Overbrook, my home town.  So I charged out of my car and blurted out that I knew of him and that I, too, was from Overbrook.  And sure enough, he was too.  

It was John Cassidy, of the infamous Cassidy family.  I couldn't believe.  Then his wife, Laurie, popped in to the conversation and she suggested we have a beer to celebrate.  And out of nowhere, she pulled out three Schmidt beers.  I thought Schmidt's had stopped brewing in the 1970's.  But she had three in the trunk of her car.  And we pulled out whatever we had to eat in our cars and just sat there for an hour or more and caught up on all of the overbook stories we could think of.

And this is why I never play the lottery. All of my one in a billion chances is spent on moments like this.