It is with a heavy heart I send these words on the loss of my childhood friend. We did so much together as young boys, growing up in the ’60s. We biked the river trails between the University and Broadway bridges. We built model airplanes. His end results so much better than mine. He was so articulate and his attention to detail was second to none. We were both interested in WWII and I still am today. We experimented together getting cigarettes from Rosemarie Leonard and trying those. We somehow got a hold of a 26 of Crown Royal whiskey and along with Dan Fitzgerald we also tried that out, but having sent Pete to the store in Churchill shopping center to get 2 large bottles of Coke. It was raining and he wiped out on his bike and broke 1 bottle. So we had only 1 bottle left. We drank, and drank and all 3 of us got really drunk. But, we survived vowing not to do that again. We played sports, as all young boys did. Playing football one day Pete and I banged heads. He and I were both cut and I carry the scar with me today. We played softball and a game called assburn. Played shinny with a tennis ball and we teamed together to win the Grade 8 badminton tournament. We raided gardens and threw tomatoes at cars and buses going down Taylor St. Sometimes getting chased by angry drivers, but we had preselected spots in which to hide, or yards to scamper through. We never got caught and that was a rush. Then high school. I would walk to Pete’s house and together we would walk or hitchhike to Holy Cross. We usually got picked up by Janine Platana and her dad. And those stylish gray slacks and colored shirts and green sweaters…Yuck. In our later years in school we found new and different people. There seemed to many rules and regulations. This was the ’60s remember, too many distractions. Pete and I drifted apart and I quit school and went to B.C. and back again, never to rekindle our relationship as it once was. I tried but he was at university and out in Alta. Time moved on and the years added up. Marriage and job commitments and kids etc. I have had Pete on my mind quite a bit since Brian R. phoned me with the tragi cand numbing news. I will remember Pete as my friend and schoolmate and in our youth my soulmate. Loved the guy. Michael Vedress.
