Nick - A Fellow Adventurer, A Life Long Friend

Have you ever had a friend that you have known most of your life...a friend that has supported you throughout the good times and the bad?  A friend you could call anytime at all and within hours she would be there to lend support, hold your hand or just cry with you.  It has been my privilege to know such a person and her name is Nick.

I met Nick back in the fall of 1964 when we first started our freshmen year at Regis College, a small Catholic liberal arts college in Massachusetts.  At the time we were both history majors and shared most of the same introductory courses. I immediately knew she was someone I would enjoy having as a friend.  Within that tall, slim, athletic cheerleading exterior, I knew there was an inquiring mind...one that was "open" and full of questions.  Together we waded through several years of philosophy and religious classes (all required at Regis at the time)...and gradually we became good friends.  Together we explored our passions of hiking, hitchhiking and historical discussions.  We learned to sail together (one of our PE classes at Regis) as well as golf (completely useless sport in my eyes).  And together we learned the fine art of eating "ten Macs for $1" in one sitting when McDonald's first opened their doors in Waltham, Massachusetts. 

After graduating  from Regis in the spring of '68, we traveled to Nantucket Island to waitress, drink wine under lampposts and sing Simon and Garfunkel songs all through the night.  It was on Nantucket we found the call of the sea.  Together we explored all the beaches by bicycle...Nick is far more adventurous then me when it comes to swimming in cold, cold waters. 

Over the past forty-three years we have shared our lives, our families and our love of adventure.  It was Nick who sat with Papa and I in a New England Medical Hospital room ten years ago sharing our grief...and it was Nick who accompanied us on the lobster boat when we scattered Aaron's ashes.  It was me Nick called when she read that a plane had gone down in Estonia- one that she had believed her son Gabe was on.  Both of us were relieved when that was not the case.

Our friendship over the years has been a blessing to me....though at times, I wonder why!  Was it not Nick that insisted I ride a bike fourteen miles on Nantucket two years ago after I had a knee  replacement!  Never one to accept "No", Nick just keeps needling till she accomplishes her goal.  And yes, I did pedal the bike all those miles with Nick encouraging me on.  And later we stopped at a bakery we had known long ago, hot, tired and looking quite disheveled and spent all our money on sweets that we ate on the curbside.  We certainly did not look like the typical Regis graduate of 1968 forty years later....more then likely had someone seen us, they would have thought we were two old bag ladies!  

Recently, Nick accompanied Papa and I on our hiking trip to Sachuest Wildlife Refuge....these are some of the pictures I couldn't post then because for some reason Gather wasn't downloading my vertical pictures. 

 Nick loves this picture....when we were back at the house downloading the pictures she was joking that I should write a story that we met some Lephrechauns from Magi's Lephrachaunia stories and that they had turned Nick and Papa into "wee folks" that could sit on the tip of a leaf!

 But I love these last two images....Nick at her best!