One more 'Good Guy' gone

I thought of this one day while passing by Rocky Freda’s place of business on the Sunday River access road.

I never knew Rocky very well. I used to drive by quite frequently on my way to work on houses in the area. I got to the point where I started to look forward to going by just to see if Rocky was there because he would inevitably take the time to look my way and wave with a rather wry smile. I understood what the smile meant because of a brief conversation we had a while back. He saw me on Main Street and walked up to speak to me. I could tell by his approach that he had something on his mind and I was about to learn what it was.

"Hey, how many times do you go by my place anyway? If I didn’t know better, I would think that all you do is drive around all day."

He had the same smile when he asked me that as he did every other time he waved when I went by. It was a very loose connection, but one that served me well. I always looked for the guy that made that remark on that spot on the road and almost always got the predictable response that I wanted.

Sounds kind of lame, but I think that is what small towns are all about. Even if you don’t really know all the people around you, you have a relationship with those people because you share such close quarters with them. I know that speaking for myself; I wave to almost everyone more out of habit than anything else. Most I don’t really know, but I have been waving to them for so long they wave back. I suspect that many say something like "who the heck is that anyway?" Oh well, I would much rather wave to someone that I just don’t know then to not wave to a friend.

I guess that my point is that we all know a handful of Rockies that pretty much make our days. Nancy Young was one of those for me. We lost her last week and I know that I will miss her for a long time to come. She was one of the "Good Guys" that I always looked forward to seeing just because. I know that my pain won’t begin to compare to the loved ones that these guys left behind, but they left a hole in our community that can’t easily be filled.

Don’t ever underestimate the importance of just being one of the "Good Guys." We all need them.

Tony Andrews

Bethel