This is going to be about more than one person. These will be some of the early friends that I can remember from childhood, as well as some who were close friends for a while and then quickly forgotten. I will share some real names for those whose last names I don't know and overall only vaguely remember. This is so that I don't confuse myself by giving them aliases.
First off, the title character, Gordon Schauer. When we were in second grade, the teacher was talking about best friends. Gordon was sitting next to me, and we said to each other, "Do you want to be best friends?" And we agreed. For years after that, I always thought Gordon and I were best friends. I didn't feel that. I just thought it. Now, we never hated each other or anything, but we never became very close either. It's just that the label always stuck to my head.
When I look back to elementary school, the guy that kind of stands out for me as a best friend type was Steve Landsteamer. We were in every class from first to fifth grade. I believe we may have been in kindergarten together as well, but that's too hazy for me now. We used to ride our bikes everywhere together. One memory that always stands out is me riding with him on his bike by this store in the marketplace place called The G Spot and he was singing this song about finding an ugly girl to marry you.
Anyways, this was the kid with whom I skipped class together, ventured to the outskirts of town together and even peed outdoors together. We joined the drum corps and the baseball team also. I believe he joined the Cub Scouts, too. I think every kid did. But I'm pretty sure he wasn't in the folk dancing group with me.
One early friend I remember is this kid named Danny. I know we were in kindergarten together because pretty much my only memory of him was coming in to class on the first day of school in Grade One, and him greeting me very warmly and saying hello. He had a very welcoming presence, and I don't remember being nervous at all that day. He asked that I sit next to him, and I did. And that's pretty much all that I can recall about him.
I had another friend Danny a few years later around the fourth grade. I can't figure out whether it's the same kid or not. This second Danny lived on the same street as me and had a brother about a year younger than him. I don't remember either Danny or the brother before and after the fourth grade. Anyways, I used to watch the "American Ninja" movies with second Danny and his brother, and we used to play ninjas with wooden sticks as swords. We would hide behind houses and trees or whatever as we hunted for each other.
Then there was this kid named Reggie. And that's about it. I just remember being kind of close to this individual, but I don't remember much else. I think we were classmates at some point. We could have been the best of friends for a few days and quickly drifted off again. I'm pretty sure he exists. I remember walking to his house one time and hanging out there. A long time passed and I think I went back there and found out that he moved away. Either that, or I learned that he had gone and hoped to find him there anyway. I'm not sure.
Anyways, back to fake names. There were two other boys who were always with me and Steve. Of course, there were a number of other friends who would hang out once in a while, but it was the four of us who were constantly together. One reason was we all lived in town, and some of our close chums were a few kilometers away.
Ben Dover joined our class in the fourth grade. From grades one to three, and in the fifth grade again, he was with a different group. We became close in Grade Four and remained so after. One memory I have of him is coming to his house and finding this long stairway and we all had to carry our bikes up and down it.
I think Ben was the nephew of or related to Mrs. Mol Dover, the history teacher because they had the same last name. I'm positive though, that Bertie Sanchez was the nephew of Ms. Gertie Sanchez, the science teacher. Bertie and his aunt lived a couple of blocks away from school. One memory I have of him is sneaking into his older brother's room, because it was plastered with pictures of naked girls on every wall and even the ceiling.
Another friend is Al Borigines. He was a short kid who I remember as always being happy. One rainy day my friends and I were under the shelter of the outdoor stage talking about basketball. There was this puddle where some kids had left paper boats. Out of the blue, Al gets up and jumps onto the puddle, shouting, "Conan the destroyer!" We all laughed. That was gold for a bunch of ten year olds.
Much later, maybe a year or two, I remember finding out that Al lived by the beach. No, his family didn't have a beach house, if you're thinking about the ones maybe at the Hamptons or something. They simply had a little hut situated close to the water, being that his dad probably fished for a living.
I spent an afternoon with him and his little brother. I don't recall how that happened. Maybe he met me in town and we went to his house. Maybe I went there with other friends and they all went home before me. I just remember having fun playing games and picking some of the fruits that grew there. Then I think his mom gave us food to eat. I think it was dried fish. I don't think Al even had electricity at his house, but I just remember having such a joyous time that day.
The truest best friend I had before the sixth grade was Doug Nammit. I'm not sure now whether we were friends in the fourth grade, whether he transferred from another school or if he was simply in a different class. But in the fifth grade, we became the best of friends. This was in part because it turned out that he lived only a block from me. Again, I'm not sure whether he had been there all his life, but I believe his family only came to our town that year.
Now that I think of it, maybe that was one of the reasons why we became so close. He probably didn't know many people yet. Not that I wouldn't have been a good friend anyway.
I don't remember walking to school together, but we definitely went home together most of the time. We would spend the afternoons at each other's place until early evening when we were expected back. I remember there was an empty building next to his house where we sometimes played. I think he also had a little brother. Shortly after the end of the school year, he told me that he was moving again. I believe I told him that I wish that wouldn't happen. We definitely didn't have a sad goodbye or anything like that. We didn't have any goodbye. It just happened and we haven't seen each other again in twenty years.
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