Guestbook

So… I have the other half of Evan’s story.

I was 6 years old when we moved into SW Portland, just up the street from the Hess’s. There were 7 of us boys in the neighborhood, all within 2 years of each other. (Kevin Meyers, Michael Crouch, David O’Dell, Brian Creamer (i.e. Beaver), Dirk, myself, and Brian Hess) We were raised at time where mothers said “You’ve had breakfast – now, go outside until lunch and I don’t want to get any phone calls about what you have been up to!”

…and so it was, 7 boys, plus a few tag-along siblings, all banished outdoors, all standing in Hess’s front yard, and all asking the same question “What do we want to do today -- that we didn’t do yesterday or the day before?” We spent our childhood together - getting into mischief, going to the same schools, and learning life’s lessons along the way. Even in times of darkness, Brian was this perpetual beacon of optimism, who had a knack for bringing people together, even when they had different viewpoints. He was the universal puzzle piece to our group.

As youths we rode our bikes into Multnomah Village, where his dad owned and operated a pharmacy. We had sleepovers, picked blackberries from the two vacant lots on our street, built a scrap-wood tree fort in Michael Crutch’s back yard, and in the winter time went sledding down SW 36th Ave. Where the basement of your neighbors house, was the same height as the top of your chimney – it was a ‘steep street’. Nary a day went by, where we didn’t see each other – at home, at school, or outside – even in the rain…

Then we went to high school and evolved into ruffians. Let’s just say that we excelled at extra-curricular activities, some of which I won’t share publicly as the statuette of limitations have yet to expire. My dad recapped it best: “How can you miss 1 in 3 days of school and still get a B+ average?” Brian and I were no dummies and knew how to work the school system. Much to the annoyance of Mr. McDonald, our school counselor – who, on our senior year, submitted our names and phone numbers to the USMC recruiter.

High school was a great time for us and we earned extra credits by participating in school plays. It was Brian who noticed that the (dehydrated & self-centered) lead actor was drinking loads of water from a wine skin – and then acting out that it was ‘fire water’ as he handed it back to the Indian Chief. …so on closing night, vodka replaced water in the wineskin and the lead didn’t need to act-out his ‘fire water’ experience. By the closing curtain, many of us could barely stand and the wineskin was bone dry.

With my parents heading off to the family beach cabin for the weekend, we experimented with a ½ gallon of Old Crow Whisky. Mr. Hess opened his front door to get a Sunday paper only to find Brian slumped between it and the screen door – his car parked sideways in the driveway – house keys in the ignition and car keys in the house lock. Mr. Hess just left him there in the morning sun. Eventually Brian crawled his way to the bathroom to worship a porcelain god.

Brian became the center of attention when his dad got him a used car – a red Plymouth Valiant. We went everywhere in that thing: fishing, hunting, movies, arcades, and on occasion – school. Somehow (cough) Brian came into possession of several cases of the school’s industrial strength TP. It was Brian who drew up and coordinated the late-night TP battle plan. 8 homes in one night, the school was ‘a Buzz’ Monday morning when select teachers all compared notes on their Sunday cleanup activities.

When we didn’t have any gas money, we would sneak into the Hess’s basement to play board games. D&D has just been released (this was long before there was ever a player’s handbook) it was a 3-book set of paperbacks no bigger than a 6x9 legal pad. Brian’s oldest brother Buck, would become our DM and every Friday became D&D night in the Hess's leaky cement basement. We put up a 4x8 sheet of plywood between two support posts as a gaming table. During the rainy season, there was a 1” of standing water on the floor. But we didn’t care – Friday night It was also a boozy night and Buck had no problem buying us beer – if we supplied the cash up front.

This band of ruffian brothers finally grew into young men. We kept in touch during college, where Brian and I both went into computer programming. We watched as Brian courted Jennifer and they were the first of our group to get married. I followed suit shortly thereafter. After college came careers, kids, and adulthood. But here is where my story tapers off – Brian relocated to Seattle and the rest of us headed off in life’s different directions. While some of us retained our youthful friendship over the years, I’m sad to say that Brian maintained just intermittent contact.

Shortly after Brian & I retired – around the time of Covid – I was able to reconnect with Brian and get caught up on the past 30 years. We so wanted to relive our youth again (as old men), but sadly – time ran out. Brian was one of my best childhood friends, I’ll never forget his positive impact on my life and how he helped to shape my personality, but just the good parts…

Some of Brian still lives in me to this day ~ and his joviality will be sorely missed.