Honk if you know Bill W.
To many Bill W. is the guy who helped straighten out an alcoholic's life, perhaps their own.
My friend "Bill" W actually is a John Witte who adopted the nickname about 80 years ago for whatever reason; he came from a family that was a collection of names other than those on birth cert-papers. Wife Katherine was Kitty, Daughter Katherine was Kassie and Lynn was Pinny- short for Pinhead when she wasn't called by her given name.
I will never forget the fact that I met him through his daughter Kassie in the winter of 1965 after heading up to Buffalo for a NY State School Music Association (NYSSMA) performance at the State Music Festival under the direction of Arthur Fare, another legendary Valley Stream music teacher of which there were many. Apparently I made enough of an impression on her that she decided to split from Kenny Bannerman and join me for the busride home- 10th grade, 15, and she had two inches of additional height on me. Yikes! And at 54 in January, you would still be hard pressed to think of her anywheres past 45!
Bill was a strapping guy then- 6'2", 230ish- who worked as a maintenance crew chief at Pan American Airlines. In those days parents drove their kids who went to different schools in the same high schoool district to their friend's homes and there was usually a reciprocal drive back by the parents of the home being visited. This was a real trip for me in that Mr. Witte (pronounced "witty") had an array of the most unusual vehicles on the planet to my teenaged eyes- two Saabs with suicide doors and a Citroen. He drove them to their limits as their suspensions were far ahead of comparable American whaleboat family cars, so each trip was an adventure in A2B travel. I dated his daughter for about 8 months or so before Bob Dibble's car was deemed far more sophisticated and cooler than my 15 speeder.
Nearly forty years later I still know Bill. After escaping from Ohio State in 1980 I came back to Long Island to live and work with my new family and a career that was almost pre-destined, and certainly filled with folks lined up to have as clientele. They turned out to be some of the nicest people on the planet, and one of them was Bill Witte. This time the tables were slightly turned, however, since he had to listen to the "rinse and spit" commands coming from his dentist! LOL!
So what of it?
I have seen a man in his late 40's and early 50's mature into the fellowship of those in their 60's, 70's and now his eighties with an insight that is usually only observed by family. After Kitty passed in 1979 he was a lost soul as I was told by him just a few months later when he broke a tooth and saw my shingle up. I can remember the anxieties he displayed when he realized that he wanted to have a partner again. ( Read needed an anchor in his life.) His turmoil soon ended when he met Madeline and once again had a kite-flying mate that enjoyed boating as well. Happy and busy- Bill's best state of being!
Unfortunately he has now gotten to the point where he has being taken into "custody" at a nursing facility where Kassie works as the Speech and Hearing Department Head. His days are shortening in direct proportion to his memory banks and abilities to exercise his inate engineering skills. I doubt there will be any more bagel mornings or BS-ing about his adventures past.
It's getting harder to distinguish his being a skeleton supporting his thoughts or an emptying shell trying to still contain them. His frustrations bring on a streaming review of cusswords and "Christs", and he brags about still possessing enough personal vinegar to get him back home.
But then again he never really understood "peace" on anyone's terms...
I hope he finds some before the Long Rest and my next visit.
My friend "Bill" W actually is a John Witte who adopted the nickname about 80 years ago for whatever reason; he came from a family that was a collection of names other than those on birth cert-papers. Wife Katherine was Kitty, Daughter Katherine was Kassie and Lynn was Pinny- short for Pinhead when she wasn't called by her given name.
I will never forget the fact that I met him through his daughter Kassie in the winter of 1965 after heading up to Buffalo for a NY State School Music Association (NYSSMA) performance at the State Music Festival under the direction of Arthur Fare, another legendary Valley Stream music teacher of which there were many. Apparently I made enough of an impression on her that she decided to split from Kenny Bannerman and join me for the busride home- 10th grade, 15, and she had two inches of additional height on me. Yikes! And at 54 in January, you would still be hard pressed to think of her anywheres past 45!
Bill was a strapping guy then- 6'2", 230ish- who worked as a maintenance crew chief at Pan American Airlines. In those days parents drove their kids who went to different schools in the same high schoool district to their friend's homes and there was usually a reciprocal drive back by the parents of the home being visited. This was a real trip for me in that Mr. Witte (pronounced "witty") had an array of the most unusual vehicles on the planet to my teenaged eyes- two Saabs with suicide doors and a Citroen. He drove them to their limits as their suspensions were far ahead of comparable American whaleboat family cars, so each trip was an adventure in A2B travel. I dated his daughter for about 8 months or so before Bob Dibble's car was deemed far more sophisticated and cooler than my 15 speeder.
Nearly forty years later I still know Bill. After escaping from Ohio State in 1980 I came back to Long Island to live and work with my new family and a career that was almost pre-destined, and certainly filled with folks lined up to have as clientele. They turned out to be some of the nicest people on the planet, and one of them was Bill Witte. This time the tables were slightly turned, however, since he had to listen to the "rinse and spit" commands coming from his dentist! LOL!
So what of it?
I have seen a man in his late 40's and early 50's mature into the fellowship of those in their 60's, 70's and now his eighties with an insight that is usually only observed by family. After Kitty passed in 1979 he was a lost soul as I was told by him just a few months later when he broke a tooth and saw my shingle up. I can remember the anxieties he displayed when he realized that he wanted to have a partner again. ( Read needed an anchor in his life.) His turmoil soon ended when he met Madeline and once again had a kite-flying mate that enjoyed boating as well. Happy and busy- Bill's best state of being!
Unfortunately he has now gotten to the point where he has being taken into "custody" at a nursing facility where Kassie works as the Speech and Hearing Department Head. His days are shortening in direct proportion to his memory banks and abilities to exercise his inate engineering skills. I doubt there will be any more bagel mornings or BS-ing about his adventures past.
It's getting harder to distinguish his being a skeleton supporting his thoughts or an emptying shell trying to still contain them. His frustrations bring on a streaming review of cusswords and "Christs", and he brags about still possessing enough personal vinegar to get him back home.
But then again he never really understood "peace" on anyone's terms...
I hope he finds some before the Long Rest and my next visit.
posted by Doc AWM at 5:40 PM
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