Sunday, June 2, 2024
Tom was one of my closet friends all through high school. He and I were always tinkering with our cars - his Mustang and my 63 Chevy were constant companions and a source of enormous pride. Tom waxed that Mustang every month; it was never dirty. We were both into music and pursued our passions by buying up albums on release day, turning on our friends via our incredible car and home stereo systems, and attending concerts and local live music performances. My rock and roll band, The Wanderers, practiced next door in the England's garage and Tom supported us in every way including being our equipment guy on many occasions. I think he secretly wanted to be in the band! He was a huge Steely Dan fan and his passion for them became a lifelong passion of mine as well. He was a constant source of laughter and a companion in so many good times and close calls. We had some marathon hide and seek games in the neighborhood - there were so many good hiding spots. His mom and dad were so supportive of Tom's friends even though I'm sure they cringed every time we came to the door to take Tom on his next adventure. The cops knew who we were but were never able to pin us down - except the time Donnie A got arrested for pool hopping with us. One day a few years back, I was walking down the street in Portsmouth, NH - possibly the only time I had been to that town - and Tom called out my name as we were passing on the sidewalk. Our comrades couldn't pull us apart as we had so much to catch up on. We finally parted and rekindled our friendship via email and a single visit to his home in Connecticut not that long ago. We, of course, promised each other to get together again soon but alas life got in the way for both of us and we never made it happen again. I am grieving today the loss of my old friend and my heart goes out to his wife who I only met that once and to Ron and Philip (Cheesy Boy?). I'm in South Carolina as I write this but if I was at home in NH I would have made the trip to the mass tomorrow. I'll miss you Tom. You were one of a kind and a best friend.
