In memory of a buddy
Why I wait so long to re-establish contact with someone I considered a good friend, I'll never know. A few years ago I decided to see if Harvey Hartman was still in Edmonton but couldn't find someone by that name in Edmonton so tried calling one in Leduc, thinking he might have had reasons to move there. Right name, wrong person but he knew of a Harvey John Hartman who had died in an accident. It was great when the Edmonton Journal microfilms were at the Stanley Milner Library just downtown but they have since moved to the U of Alberta library and I just kept putting off the trip until recently.
The gal at the desk thought the info should be online but after getting me access to the Edmonton Journal files all they had was a list of the obits for that day and a note "to see the obits go to the microfilm."
Well, I got the microfilm and found that Harvey John Hartman, who died accidentally in 2002 was brother to Helen and Dennis but he had six sisters in all and two brothers, of whom Dennis had moved to Australia. Harvey had married and had two daughters.
I was working in the Manning IGA in 1964/65 and one of the cashiers, Helen, was married to the local Forestry rep. We got to be good friends and eventually she told me about her brother, Harvey, 15 year old, who came in spring/summer of 1965 to visit for a couple of weeks. We met and instantly hit it off and we spent much of the two weeks together.
Years earlier I had gone fishing in the river just east of us on Uncle Percy's land and the water had been unusually high for a spring runoff. I usually didn't have any luck but then Dad didn't usually catch many either. This time he was pulling them out left and right. Eventually he felt sorry for me and we switched places and I continued not getting anything and where I had previously caught nothing, he continued to pull them out left and right. What a frustrating fishing trip. Years later I eventually broke my poor results streak catching my first ever fish.
I don't remember what else we did that two weeks but I remember taking Harvey to the old fishing spot and again the river was unusually high. However we started fishing and would you believe, I was able to pull several fish out in short order. I told Harvey about my earlier experience with my Dad and offered to change places with him. It didn't make any difference, I continued to pull several fish out in the next half hour. While Harvey couldn't catch anything. What an experience. The universe blesses you when it darn well gets around to it.
When my application to take the electronics course in the fall at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) was approved, I mentioned it to Helen and she said she would talk to her Mom and Dad and arrange for me to stay at their house. So on the first of September I moved in with Harvey and his Dad and Mom staying in his brother, Dennis' room, who was currently living in Calgary. When Dennis came back at Christmas time, he stayed in his room while I stayed in Harvey's room.
Why I didn't stay in touch I don't know as the next year I got a shared room in a house just across the street south of NAIT. If I'd only got in touch when I first came back to Edmonton in 2000 I could have had two more years with my friend. This is the second friend I'd like to re-connect with, the other being Sylvan Sivertson who died of cancer in 1979 after having a family and children.
Best wishes, good friends, I miss you still.
The gal at the desk thought the info should be online but after getting me access to the Edmonton Journal files all they had was a list of the obits for that day and a note "to see the obits go to the microfilm."
Well, I got the microfilm and found that Harvey John Hartman, who died accidentally in 2002 was brother to Helen and Dennis but he had six sisters in all and two brothers, of whom Dennis had moved to Australia. Harvey had married and had two daughters.
I was working in the Manning IGA in 1964/65 and one of the cashiers, Helen, was married to the local Forestry rep. We got to be good friends and eventually she told me about her brother, Harvey, 15 year old, who came in spring/summer of 1965 to visit for a couple of weeks. We met and instantly hit it off and we spent much of the two weeks together.
Years earlier I had gone fishing in the river just east of us on Uncle Percy's land and the water had been unusually high for a spring runoff. I usually didn't have any luck but then Dad didn't usually catch many either. This time he was pulling them out left and right. Eventually he felt sorry for me and we switched places and I continued not getting anything and where I had previously caught nothing, he continued to pull them out left and right. What a frustrating fishing trip. Years later I eventually broke my poor results streak catching my first ever fish.
I don't remember what else we did that two weeks but I remember taking Harvey to the old fishing spot and again the river was unusually high. However we started fishing and would you believe, I was able to pull several fish out in short order. I told Harvey about my earlier experience with my Dad and offered to change places with him. It didn't make any difference, I continued to pull several fish out in the next half hour. While Harvey couldn't catch anything. What an experience. The universe blesses you when it darn well gets around to it.
When my application to take the electronics course in the fall at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) was approved, I mentioned it to Helen and she said she would talk to her Mom and Dad and arrange for me to stay at their house. So on the first of September I moved in with Harvey and his Dad and Mom staying in his brother, Dennis' room, who was currently living in Calgary. When Dennis came back at Christmas time, he stayed in his room while I stayed in Harvey's room.
Why I didn't stay in touch I don't know as the next year I got a shared room in a house just across the street south of NAIT. If I'd only got in touch when I first came back to Edmonton in 2000 I could have had two more years with my friend. This is the second friend I'd like to re-connect with, the other being Sylvan Sivertson who died of cancer in 1979 after having a family and children.
Best wishes, good friends, I miss you still.
posted by Unknown at
10:36 PM
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