‘The Moon is high in the evening sky,’ Chet noted. ‘Tonight we fall back an hour…that means another hour of sleep Sunday morning,’ Billy B. replied. ‘Yes and it will be dark at 5:00 P:M: Sunday evening,’ Jane retorted. ‘I like the dark,’ laughed Billy B. ‘It is too easy to stub your toe in the dark,’ Neva J. reminded the group. ‘Is uncle Gene going to be staying the night…again,’ asked Billy B. ‘Yes he has nowhere to live at the moment and he is welcome to bunk with us until he can get on his feet,’ Neva J. answered. ‘Why do you call uncle Gene…Fetch…and he, in turn, calls you Nave,’ Jane asked Neva J. ‘Well it began when we were kids,’ answered Neva J.

‘Fetch was my buddy…he looked out for me and I for him…when other kids were less than kind to him I would tell him to, ‘Fetch my bullwhip and I would give them a thrashing within an inch of their lives,’ Neva J. reminisced as she thought of her younger days. ‘Did you really whip uncle Genes’ abusers,’ Jane said with sincerity. ‘Why yes I did…on a few occasions…but it was the threat of the action that was almost as powerful as the real thing,’ Neva J. answered. ‘Uncle Gene has always walked with a limp…he was born with it…and smart-ass kids who wanted to make something of it…had me to deal with,’ Neva J. said with conviction.

Tommy was always being either picked on or shunned at school,’ Chet said. ‘He became reclusive and very quiet…it was difficult to get a word out of him…he drooled a little when he sat at his desk and his back had a curvature due to Scoliosis,’ Chet continued. ‘I determined to make him my friend…and he slowly began to come out of his shell and he could tell the most fascinating stories and even tap dance like no one that I have ever seen,’ Chet said. ‘Tommy went from the class prime person to pick on and take advantage of…to the class star…and he caused every Bully to recede into the darkness,’ Jane said with tears in her eyes.

When people saw Rosie coming down the street…they moved to the other side of the road. She had lost her husband and she talked to herself a little…and due to loneliness… she answered herself from time to time. ‘Rosie and I are best buddies…she calls me every day and we have lunch together once a week,’ Neva J. said as she smiled to herself. ‘Since you have become Rosie’s friend and helped her get some new clothes she is seen all over town helping others,’ Jane told Neva J. ‘Rosie was ‘Rosie The Riveter’…really…during WWII…she worked on making battleships while her beloved husband Ralph fought the Nazis in Germany,’ Chet noted. ‘Often we ignore others because they seem different or at first not friendly…or more often than not they are afraid of the rejection that they have felt on many occasions,’ Chet said.

‘I first met Latham in Mrs. Hemphills Remedial Reading Class…I had been sent there due to a bit of dyslexia…and there were some students from Special Education in the class…they were some of the best kids that I ever met,’ Billy B. said exuberantly! ‘Latham was a prince of a guy and could talk about anything…he was unable to take PE due to a physical condition,’ Billy B. said. ‘No one talked to Latham…but I did…and we became friends,’ Billy B. noted happily. ‘It turned out that I did not have dyslexia…but I did have a wonderful experience that has stayed with me for my life,’ Billy B. noted with joy…

‘Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes. Song of Solomon 2:15