Fred

Anna and my girl friend had known each other since they were toddlers.  Their parents had stayed close friends since college.  Both girls had been given the same first name as a token of the bond between the two sets of parents.  I had been included in several get togethers of the two families during my years in college.  In 1965, the start of my senior year, Anna invited my girl friend and me to have dinner with her and Eric, her husband.  We had all met many times before, but hadn't gotten to know each other.  Anna and Eric both came from money, and I feared I was headed for another of my infamous foot-in-mouth evenings.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  I felt at home with the two of them right from the start and had a great time.

Some months later, my girl friend and I went our separate ways, and I was back at Anna and Eric's place.  We enjoyed each others' company and it became a regular thing.  We discussed that first dinner together.  I told them I had not expected it to go well, what with us coming from such different worlds.  Anna told me they hoped I would be back, but without my girlfriend.  I remember thinking at the time that this sounded callous.  Then again, it was Anna's way to be direct.  In any event, it was interesting how things had turned out.

I was fascinated by Anna and Eric.  What would it be like to have known from an early age, that you'd never have to work a day in your life? 

I used to ask them, "How could that not screw you up?"

Eric would say, "It's not something we think about".

I'd say, "Exactly, why dwell on the fact that your existence is meaningless".

Eric would say, "Gee, you know, you're right.  I should be like you and spend the rest of my life in some shit job".

I'd say, "It's sad really.  You two have had the very essence of life withheld from you.  You'll never feel the drive that makes every species evolve".

Anna then made us all laugh, "What have you been reading, Darwin or The Prince and the Pauper?"

The three of us watched together as the second half of the decade unfolded.  There was no shortage of things to keep us completely perplexed.  Growing up in the fifties, as we had, was no way to prepare for the sixties.  Just when it seemed like things couldn't possibly get any weirder, they did.  Seeing it all from Anna and Eric's perspective, as well as mine, made it seem like everything happened twice.  I gained a lot from our friendship.  I hadn't realized how narrow my view of things had been.

They bought a fixer-upper on Mount Washington and took on the remodeling as a do-it-yourself project.  Stretching out graduate school to avoid Viet Nam, gave me plenty of free time to help them with the house.  This is when Fred showed up.  Fred was a Briard, an ancient breed of dog, bred to herd sheep by day and guard them by night.  The breed was used so extensively during World War I, that they were almost eliminated.  They served as sentries, messengers and searched for the wounded.  Fred weighed about 75 pounds, looked like a cartoon, and we took him with us everywhere.  Not all dogs are special, but to me, Fred was special. 

A domesticated Briard like Fred, will demonstrate their in-bred herding and guarding prowess the first moment they are set down in the great outdoors.  The first time we took Fred camping with us, he immediately went into his routine.  As we hiked in a line along the trail, Fred would continually move back and forth, between the front and the back of the line.  When he passed by each one of us, he would give us a little nudge with his shoulder to keep us in line.  The first time we stopped to take a break, rather than sit with us, Fred took the higher ground about twenty feet away.  We couldn't figure what was going on at first,  then Eric suggested Fred had positioned himself where he could watch over us.  To test this idea, Eric got up, walked thirty yards down the trail and sat down.  Fred kept to the higher ground, but retreated further back, where he could view all three of us without having to turn his head.  We kept spreading out further and further apart.  Every time we moved, Fred would move, further back, until he could take us all in.  This went on for the entire time we were out and about.

We had all three been Art majors, and we continued working on creative things that interested us.  We made an effort to keep up with the art scene, going to exhibits, galleries and movies.  In those days teaching was also a part of keeping up with things.  Somehow, through all of the artsy-fartsy meeting and greeting, Eric was approached by a small local private school to teach art in the afternoons.  Eric, like anyone, was flattered to be asked, but also thought it sounded like something he would enjoy.  He took the school up on their offer, and for the most part, found plenty to like about working with the kids and art.

Six or seven weeks after Eric had started teaching, I stopped by.  Eric told me that he had quit working at the school.  There had been some administrative matter that Eric had taken issue with.  He tried to make a case to demonstrate that what was being asked, was pointless.  The director said, pointless or not, that's the way things are done around here. 

Eric told me, "I liked it there.  I liked the kids, most of 'em.  I just wanted to do what they hired me for.  Then comes all this pressure over some idiotic paperwork.  I was sitting there, going through all this aggravation and I suddenly realized, if I wanted to, I could just buy the f---ing school.  So I left".

In the next few years, came the National Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Beatles, the hippies, anti-war demonstrations, assassinations of MLK and RFK, the Tet offensive, the six day war, bombing of Hanoi, USS Pueblo and walking on the moon.  Our art was one way to keep sane and the outdoors was another.  Fred watched over us as his flock during our escapes to the mountains, rivers and beaches. 

One day, I went over to see Anna and Eric and was puzzled when Fred didn't come running out to greet me as usual.  Anna and Eric had given Fred away.

I said, "You can't be serious".

Anna said, "We found him a wonderful family with kids and a big yard.  He'll be very happy there".

Eric added, "Lately, we've spent all our time on other things.  He wasn't getting enough attention or activity, it's really better for him this way".

I said, "This is Fred we're talking about."

Anna said, "We knew you were going to have trouble with this".

I said, "How could you give him away?"

Eric said, "It wasn't easy for us".

I said, "I really don't get how you could do that.  Even think of doing it".

We remained friends but they soon moved to Northern California and asked me to house sit for them until they found a buyer for the property.  I went up to visit them a few times.  A few years after the move north, Anna and Eric split up. 

Epilogue

For the ten years following their divorce, Eric and Anna had kept in touch.  Then Anna met George, who was also from money.  George had kept in touch with his ex-wife, Linda.  The four exes came to know each other.  Anna married George, and Eric married Linda.   I hadn't realized how narrow my view of things had been.