Craig Chronology

 Craig Chronology




     To put some perspective on the stories here I have to check a chronology of this friendship. I am reminded of the opening lines of the movie "I Never Sang for My Father" Death ends a life. But it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind towards some resolution, which it may never find. I have always said my friendship with Greg began before we were born since our fathers were best pals before we came on the scene. I entered stage left over four full years before Greg made his bow in December of 1951. I actually knew of him as a baby but was only aware of his spirit when he was found standing on top of a refrigerator as a tot while our families visited. I was Jack's friend during our younger years but when we moved to La Habra it was a Sheehy visit that cemented the bond between my insecure but funny 13 year old and the impressionable and adventurous 9 year old Greg. It involved a small tape rcording device and some improv on both our parts. In High School I wandered from the path of righteousness and young Greg took my lead. Drinking was foremost in our revolting from South Gate society and by the time I neared legal age the youngster was chafing at the bit to do like the big kids did and reach for beer and cigarettes. Jack was in the in-crowd at Pius and I was not but I still spent plenty of time on McNerney and started to find the curious Greg to be on my wave-length. My Summer job with the South Gate Recreation department allowed the newly driving Greg to hang out at the North Playground and hear the ribald tales of  my experience. When I returned from my triumphant tour of Europe in 1968 I brought him an authentic Irish tweed sports jacket that he wore with pride. We both had graduations in 1970 and while mine was from UCLA and his from Pi-Hi he was probably more mature than I was at the time. When I started by first real job as a salesman he met me for lunch at Jim's Burgers in the City of Commerce. He was a nightly guest at my little house on Seminole and there we both began our psychedelic experiements together. From that delightful little pad I moved on to the mind-bending couple of years with three roomates in a hippy-friendly house on Midvale in Palms. Greg, as a college boy at Loyola "Craig" stopped in for pot blowing, rock and roll plus conversations. Often, LSD was a frequent ingredient in our social lives that included Ed Carroll, Zeke and Cousin Kevin. 




To be continued

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