As I grew older, games of catch with neighborhood friends ceased to satisfy my hunger for adventure in my local neighborhood. At the time, my family lived on the outskirts of a small fishing town and as an eleven year old boy I longed to live closer to the beach. I learned from friends at school that the “beach” kids lived a fairytale life filled with boats, fishing, and fun. The reality was that we lived in a great neighborhood, but the beach seemed so distant. Although it was only about twenty minutes to the beach, the commute to see my “beach” friends felt like an eternity for a young boy.
Late one evening as I was playing in my small room at home, my father walked in with quite a surprise.
“Your mother and I have decided to move closer to my work.” He told me with little emotion. Within an instant of telling me this, I noticed a small smile crack on his face.
“Which for you equals a life on the beach!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Finally I would be one of the “beach” kids that I had envied for so long.
When moving day came, I couldn’t contain myself. We pulled up to the new house, about four streets from the beach, loaded to the brim of our family station wagon and small trailer. The house was a good size “old-style” single level home. On each side of the house one prominent native tree stood tall, both sides creating a kid-friendly wonderland. My imagination ran in all directions as my approach to the sea grape tree startled a dozen or more lizards scurrying into the intricate rooting system of the gargantuan tree.
As I continued to explore the outdoors, I discovered the most wonderful feature of my new surroundings. When I ran through the home’s side gate and picked up speed into the back yard, I came truly alive at the sight of a dock connecting my backyard to an open expanse of liquid adventure. The new home sat toward the back of an expansive bay which connected directly to the ocean and its infinite possibilities.
Within a few months, my father had invested in a small boat for me, and with the new friends I made in the beach neighborhood, I was exploring every bayou, sand bar and inlet near my new house. I felt like Tom Sawyer as my days consisted of coming home from school, throwing on my swimming trunks and heading out in my boat until evening. Needless to say I was thrilled with our family’s new home.
One winter afternoon, being a bit too cool to be swimming around off my boat, I decided my time was best spent practicing my basketball shot. In the driveway, my father had recently installed a new basketball rim. As I was taking shots and chasing after the balls I missed, I realized that a small car had pulled up to the curb at my home.
The car was a beautiful British racing green Triumph TR-4. Upon closer inspection, I realized that somehow there seemed to be three young men piled into the tiny racing inspired vehicle. The car was weathered to say the least, covered with mud, road dirt and bugs in a thick layer across the grille. As I watched, the passenger door to the car swung open and Will, my older sister Sue’s boyfriend was the first to get out. I recognized Will immediately as he stood up out of the car. By this time, he and my sister had progressed in their relationship to the point of talking about possible marriage, and he was beginning to be a bit of an older brother to me personally. Along for the ride with Will were two of his best friends from college. Eric Spatz and Doug McWilliams were two of Will’s fellow cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. They had just completed a drive direct from Colorado after a considerable period in the cramped racing car. I had never met either of them before, but if they were even half as “cool” as Will, I figured that they must be pretty swell guys.
“How’s it going little brother?” Will yelled to me from the curb.
“Great! Shooting a couple of baskets, you guys wanna play?” My response was a bit tentative as I held my breath in the hopes that these older guys would come and have some fun with me. Running to retrieve the ball from where it was lying, I was absolutely ecstatic. I couldn’t believe that these older guys would want to play with me, a young kid.
“These are my best buddies from the academy, Eric and Doug.” Will said, as he introduced me to his friends. “We’re all so happy to be away from the blue zoo!” Will commented as both of his friends walked closer to me to shake my hand.
“Hi Eric, hey Doug.” I told them as I reached up to shake their hands. “Sure is swell that you guys are here. We’re gonna have so much fun.” I told them as I handed the ball to Will. In retrospect, I can imagine that the young college students were not all that thrilled at having to pal around with an eleven year old boy while home on their break from classes. But at the time, I couldn’t have been happier to have these old guys around.
“Ok, I got Skip on my team. We’ll take you guys on in two on two.” Will said as he pushed the ball into the chest of his buddy Eric. “We’re gonna beat you guys so bad, that we better give you possession first so you have a chance.”
As the game progressed and the boys gave me every advantage possible to win, I learned through their chatter that they had just arrived home and had come by to see my older sister Sue. They had driven, packed tightly, in the small TR-4 nonstop from the Academy in Colorado all the way south for the winter holiday.
The game of basketball seemed like a dream come true to me, as I got to play with the older guys for what seemed like an eternity before they wrapped the game up and proceeded inside to greet my sister and the rest of my family.
For the next couple of weeks, Will’s friends became like brothers to me, especially Eric. Everywhere they went, they let me tag along. I took them in my boat, showed them around the beach and made sure to convince them into plenty of games of basketball in my front drive. Just having a chance to hang with these older guys made me feel bigger, older and “cooler” than I ever had imagined I could.
Over the course of the next couple of years, while I grew up in the small beach town, Will and Eric continued their training and education at the USAFA. After a couple of semesters more in school they graduated and were sent to the War in Vietnam. Will became a highly decorated F-100 pilot, while Eric went East and polished his skills as an intelligence officer.
Little did I ever suspect that less than ten years after this fateful meeting, the paths of Will, Eric and I would cross in a way that would forever change the destiny of all those involved and surrounding us. Together with my “older brothers”, the path of destiny would lead us onward into a world of high adventure, vast abundance and great risk. As I think about it now, it is amazing to me that it all started so very simply with such innocent beginnings.
