Bridges To Our Past

by Randy Drilingas (Just1L)

email: randy@timesnewspapers.com

Another bridge burned down today.

It took me back to yesterday.

Another time. Another place.

An old bridge burned down today.

Those are some lyrics to a song I started working on some years ago. The general concept is: We all have things in our lives that we can currently enjoy that act as a bridge to our earlier selves. They connect us to what we tend to call “the good old days.”

Like “the good old days,” bridges remove all the stresses of that era and leave us with the happy thoughts.

The bridge concept is different, however, because the bridge itself is something still around today. It can be just about anything — a person, place or thing that was special to us in the past. It is a bridge to our youth we can still cross.

I was reminded of this last week when I heard that Happy Joe’s Pizza Parlor on Watson Road was closing. Man, do I have a lot of good memories from that place. I’m not sure how many birthday parties I had there, or went to there, as a kid.

True story: The last time I went to Happy Joe’s as a kid, I received a coupon. No, actually it was an 8.5" x 11" full-color certificate, good for 100 cents off. I held onto that certificate for over 25 years.

About three or four years ago, I came across it and thought, “Wouldn’t it be a hoot to take the family up there and show them that certificate of yore?” So that’s exactly what we did.

After we ate, I made the move and took the certificate up to the counter. I wasn’t looking for them to honor it, but I was sure they would think it was an awesome piece of history from their past. And it just so happens that they did. Then they took it a step further.

The woman behind the counter took that certificate, adjusted the 100 cents to account for what that would equal today, and gave me the discount. How awesome is that? They even wanted to give the certificate back to me for a keepsake, but I thought it was time to let it go.

In My Life

Enjoy the column and then go enjoy the song at: https://tinyurl.com/ytb9xsdv

I started playing the guitar because of Eddie Van Halen. I started playing baseball because of Lou Brock. He was such a great person, even more so than he was a baseball player. My early memories of the base burglar are some of the best.

I remember going to the game where they honored him before retiring. I can still picture the big boat they gave him being pulled around Busch Stadium. The crowd yelling “Loooooou!” and my mom asking why people were booing him! It was the first time she had heard that.

I met Lou once at a ball signing event back in the 70s. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met and yes, he was wearing a Brock-O-Brella.

And somewhere there’s a picture of me standing next to the TV when he got his 3,000 hit. So many great memories.

While I will always have the memories of Happy Joe’s, the ability to go in and enjoy a slice of my history is now gone. I’m not sure exactly how I’ll feel when I drive by and that building is gone or a new business is there. But I do know one thing — the more bridges that burn down, the older I feel.

As if things weren’t already bad enough with COVID, back in 2020 I lost two of my best bridges exactly one month apart. Two of my biggest heroes in life died. Lou Brock passed away on Sept. 6, 2020, and Eddie Van Halen passed away on Oct. 6, 2020.

I never did finish that song. Along the way it became more about me and my own bridges. The reality is, it’s a song we all sing when one of our bridges “burns down” so to speak.

Can you think of any of your bridges that are still standing? Feel free to send me an email and tell me about them. Or, better yet, get out there and enjoy them. Walk across them and relish the great memories the other side of the bridge holds. Realize that there is still time to make more memories.

We are constantly moving forward, lately at break-neck speed. Every once in a while, it can be rewarding to take another trip across that bridge and enjoy the other side once more.