Remember When

Editor’s note – Remember When columnist W.B. “Bill” Evans is enjoying the Easter holiday with his family. We are reprinting this column, which was published on Easter Sunday 2011 at a reader’s request, with a few updates.

On Monday, the president and first lady will send out the Secret Service to round up children in Virginia and Maryland, give them a colored basket and a free pass to wallow in the grass on the South Lawn of America’s back yard for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

It's been fun sharing some of my oldtime adventures with you.  We have walked hand-in-hand along the sidewalks of Lancaster, browsed the store windows along Main Street, scampered for tadpoles in the rain filled pools along the railroad tracks and relived those hot summer nights as we sweltered beneath the covers fearful of the sounds of boogers and other monsters of the night creeping on the stair steps.

Sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, we were indeed waiting our turn.

I glanced up to see a ghost from my past, whom I hadn’t seen since making the final arrangements for my mother and father so many years ago.

My son was oblivious to the man’s presence and was engrossed in a story about the recreational upgrades for Indian Land in Wednesday’s copy of The Lancaster News.

I nudged my boy and asked, “Hey, you know who that fella is?”

I know beach sand doesn’t mix with frosty window panes and cold mornings, but bless Pete, I was ready for a change.

So when Uncle Harry mentioned riding to the coast, I was all for it. Uncle Harry’s friend, Dr. Brown and his smoking buddy, Mr. Plyler, hatched the plan.

“Harry, you ought to take a few days off from lawyering and so something different,” Dr. Brown said.