AN OLD FRIEND

I first met George (Scooter) Sousa almost 30 years ago, when Patty and I lived in Los Banos, CA. Scooter was born and raised in Gustine, CA, and still lives in that small west side community. Yesterday, I rode the Harley E/B over Pacheco Pass, then north on highway 33 into Gustine, hoping Scooter would be at his small business. Except for a few more gray hairs, he hasn't changed much from the day I first met him. Back in the early 80's, Scooter rode an older Sportster, and not only did he look the part of a biker, he lived the biker lifestyle. We became friends, and I like to think that my influence brought him a little more toward the center, and his influence took me a little more toward the edge. Fortunately, through all of the countless rides, and activities, we both came through it all, with a lot of great memories, and no permanent scars.

We spent a couple of hours, talking about the good ole days, and what has happened to all of the old crew. There's only a few of them left, and neither of us have much contact with those that remain. Scooter has a lot of pictures on one wall of his shop, and as we were talking about many of the old faces, the stark reality was that most of them are not with us any longer. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that Scooter asked me for some old pictures that he was going to use at a memorial gathering for 3 old friends - Manuel, Frank & Ronnie, who are all gone. We vowed to someday revisit the Yuma Prison Run, which used to be one of the rides we all used to look forward to, back in the 80's. It was good to see this old buddy, and now that he is once again unattached, I won't be surprised if I hear the sound of his Harley in our Lake Havasu driveway.