Jan & RJ's Terebithia

Growing up as a child in the small rural town of Nazareth, PA I was fortunate to have a companion. Our mothers said they strolled us down the street together until one day we grew old enough to walk down that same street side by side. This was Georgetown road, the place of my youth and my companion’s name was Jan. You know, when we were children, many people looked at the relationship Jan and I shared and said, “One day, they’re going to get married”, but they never quite understood the nature of our relationship. While I did have a wonderful sister, who I’m fortunate to still stay very close with (I love ya Kelly), I guess every young boy wants someone his own age to get down and dirty with, and Jan was just this ‘Tom Boy’.

A few hundred feet behind our properties a magical land existed that few knew about. This magical land was simply named “The Creek”, and it was privy to only a select few – Jan, me, my sister Kelly and Jan’s sister Lynn. Everyday after school and especially during the weekends Jan and I would spend our days and nights down there. Jan was a mighty warrior in this land and I was a powerful wizard. Jan’s large tree branch made for a strong two handed sword, and my smaller branch made an excellent magic wand. This place was our kingdom, away from our parents, away from school, away from worries. It was a place where WE ruled (and the bulls on the other side of the creek, which is why red was the forbidden color of the kingdom).

A long road of dirt and rocks led the way to the Creek and at the 2nd bridge, we would enter it (to our mother’s dismay as it made our not so magical sneakers covered in mud). In the summer the creek was high and we would carefully wade through it, avoiding the deep ends at all costs. We’d swing from ropes that were suspended by the trees and sometimes walk miles and miles down this creek. In the fall, the creek would dry up and we would walk the path of hard rocks and occasional mud patches, watching the auburn leaves fall to the ground and listening to the trees chatter away as the wind blew fiercely through them. In the winter, the creek would freeze over, at least partially, and the snow would turn everything into a frosty Winter Wonderland, that looked even more magical. This place I remember fondly - throughout our youth it was the one thing that was a constant in our ever changing lives.

The Creek was the place RJ smoked his first cigarette with Jan. It was the place RJ impaled a corn stalk into his foot. It was the place RJ’s gerbil was buried, or at least placed in a small box and sent down the creek on a raft. It was the place RJ would go to when he needed to be alone, or to cry and it was the place RJ and Jan went to for adventure. It was their ‘Terebithia’.

As a child, I took all of this for granted of course. I hated living on Georgetown road, and I just assumed everyone had a best friend like I did, but as with many things, it wasn’t until later in life that I grew an appreciation for what I had – a childhood devoid of crime, with grass to play in and a place like the creek, an imagination that didn’t rely on video games to take me to another world (although I would eventually succumb to Nintendo) and most importantly, a best friend to share my joys with.

Well, growing older, my days at the creek are gone, but my friendship with Jan is still strong. It’s amazing to be comforted with the thought that there’s someone who has known you and been your best friend for 31 years! It’s a blessing. We’ve backpacked through Europe together. We endured getting stranded in my fraternity at URI during the Blizzard of ’96 together. We mourned over Adam’s death (her dog) together. We cried to each other on the phone from across the miles as we each struggled with our own personal battles. We survived high school together. We worked as servers at Red Robin together. We both had our first job together – drying cars at Andretti-Hanna Auto Wash. We watched Musicfest fireworks together, we celebrated the New Year together and we shared everything with one another - keeping no secrets. She is a part of me and I am a part of her. Forever.

So here in Iraq, having just finished ‘Bridge to Terebithia’, I find myself nostalgic. There were several parts that clouded up my eyes, but more than anything else, it reminded me of my own youth, and how it was shared by an incredible person named Jan. I am grateful for her and that she is in my life, and Jan, if you’re reading this, I don’t take one second of our childhood for granted. Thanks for your friendship and thanks for being my companion throughout my life! I love you with all my heart.

The Pics:
top: (from left to right) Me, my sister Kelly, Jan's boyfriend Anthony and Jan
below: RJ and Jan being silly doing "RJ's nose thing" (a stupid silly facial expression I did as a kid - don't ask!)
below: the night before I graduated Medical School in Philadelphia at the Ritz Carlton, when we drank champagne and danced in the lobby - it was one of the most memorable nights of my life.
bottom: post med school graduation dinner