vandewalle

     vandewalle was my old room mate from 29 palms. a good ole boy that i tagged along with to my 1st spring break in lake havasu. the place where i saw many, many breasts and ended up riding back to base with someone totally different on a drunken trip through the desert in the cover of night.

     last week i was sitting in a karaoke bar and a man came up to the mic to sing a song. that song was "simple man" by lynyrd skynyrd.

     now i'm not exactly a fan of skynyrd, but like everyone else, i know all the songs. and i knew this song. and as i sat in that bar with my friends i drank my beer and remembered vandewalle for some reason. i sat and thought about those lyrics and the way that man was butchering that song.

     then i remembered a little poem he showed me that his mom had given to him to carry around. the little piece of paper now lived in his wall locker in our room. this is what it said...

Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say.
And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day.
Take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you'll find love,
And don't forget son,
There is someone up above.
And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Be a simple kind of man.

     he told me his mother had given him that before he set off to join the Marines.  

i have no idea what happened to that guy. nor do i ever feel the need to look anyone up, but i did remember him that night in that bar.

     vandewalle was a simple man.