A Childhood Memory

My new best friend, Larry. I was only five or six,
new to the neighborhood, and living in the first house

my family ever owned. Oakland Avenue. Larry rode

his bicycle past me standing in the front yard. Hey,

kid, I yelled out to him, where did you learn how to

ride that bike? Larry stepped on the peddle applying

the breaks, spiraling around on the gravel until he

came to a stop in the flying rocks and dust. Cool!

I said laughing. Been riding since I was three or four,

he yelled back at me. Wow! I said impressed, especially

because we were about the same age. And from my

perspective (not yet able to ride a two-wheeler), I

thought that was really something. Want to try,

Larry offered? Sure, I replied. And I did. Straddled

the seat, put one foot on the peddle, held tight on

the handle bar, and with a mighty shove from Larry

I was off. It was a wobbly ride for the first twenty

feet or so before I chickened out and put my feet

back down on the ground. Cool! My first try and I

managed not to crash. Pretty good, Larry told me.

And from that moment on we became best friends.

Larry had an older brother, Teddy, and an older sister,

Teresa. His mom was named Vivian, and his dad was

Theodore. Their last name was Hummel. His parents

had come from Germany during World War Two.

They fled their home there because they were Jews.

It would be years latter before I would learn all about

that period in history. For now, I was very happy to

be in my new neighborhood and having made my

first best friend who let me ride his bike. Larry in-

vited me often over to his house which was just

across Oakland Avenue and a few doors down. I

remember his mom and dad spoke differently than

anyone I knew. And they had a shepherd dog like Rin-

Tin-Tin. Her name was, Vickie, who was also very

friendly. Never once did she growl at me or bite. I

remember believing that she too must have been a

German Jew. But then, I was just a little kid and being

raised a Catholic at the time. Larry, and his family were

very friendly to me, and they didn’t seem to mind.

Chris Hanch 7-7-19