I first noticed Curt on the playground of the elementary school behind my house, somewhere between being 5-9 years old. He stood out in the crowd. Before he was Curt, his name around my neighborhood, not more than a couple to four hundred yards from his home, was "The Albino". We lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia, but it was a tougher crowd than most in the area with many of the boys living a Tom/Sawyer/Huck Finn existance near this abandoned wooded estate that was nearby to where we lived, against residences that just within a square mile enhabited about 500 boys within 5 years of our age. So this nickname is typical of nicnames kids gave other kids based on obvious traits. When I checked him out up close for the first time to see if his eyes were pink, because, you gotta know, I found something even more unusual, a look in his eyes that in the kindest and most inquistively friendly way penetrated you. I said hi and he just smiled. He was rough and tumble in games like kill the man with the ball, but that look he had - it was unique. He was a year older than me and when you're that young you don't forget that kind of kindness, however when some of my friends called him that name, he always had a sharp or cleverly funny comeback, which would almost make you feel you smiled the way he did - kind of an infectious thing. It was the feeling and expression that you or he almost knew something that you knew the other didnt have a clue about. Like any neighborhood, its through friends you get more exposure to someone. My first with Curt was through his neighbor Jay Hurt, a couple afternoons tossing a ball around in the yard between their homes and later, through the most significant friend of ours at the time, Ted Goodrich, who was a very close friend of mine before Jr. High living across the schoolyard from me. In the beginning it was like acknowledgments I'd see Curt over there from time to time as we were getting older - all meetings with him in passing, nothing more than, "Hey, How's it going?" "Good" how y'doing?" "Good" All eye to eye. Sincere. Nothing phony about it. It wasnt until I got back from the Navy and newly married in 1986 when Ted and I resumed a friendship put aside for 17 years and then when Ted had moved away and come back in the area in the early nineties THATS where I would see Curt and Therese visiting like myself at Teds, but THEN we ALL had something else in common - playing MUSIC. Therese who was in the same classes with me since 6th grade, worked with quite a few engineers that either played music or thier spouses did. So John and Phil were jamming with me on drums at one of Ted's party, heard I had just split up with a band that I had been with for 5 years and invited me to play with them and Curt at Phil's house. 1991-2: That's when my friendship with Curt really started. Bands are all different and Curt became my phone band buddy confidant between weekly practices just talking about stuff and having that same "neighborhood" take on what was going on in the group dynamic of the band with John and Phil. So, we had a real good run on that for ten years talking about that and life in general. Curt was my confidant and just as good of friend as any man could be. He ushered me through starting my own business by mentoring and being a sounding board and giving consultation when I was formulating it and selflessly loaning me money for my corporate charter when I was flat broke from my other startup expenses. When Curt and Therese had Jimmy, Curt was very generous with letting us see the father and son thing when we were there rehearsing at the house and when he became a stay at home Dad - all that profoundly influence me. He also was a great source of support and council with me when I first became a father in my mid fourties and at the same time took on the care of two parents with Alzheimers, eventually having to put my business aside to be a Mr. Mom and total caregiver, doing construction on the home and playing in bands. He and Therese were the only people I knew that understood what it was like to be sandwiched like that while at the same time redefining traditional family roles to make it all work. God bless them and especially Curt. He saved my life and I'm grateful he saw me make it through although my own battles with this life I took on got worse. I separated from the band in 2002, but even though we were not playing in the same bands other than to get together every few years, we would still check up on each other and we have our talks, comparing notes and the like. I consider myself lucky that in these past few years, our band got together on a more frequent basis to play and the last time I actually saw saw him this March, the last words he said to me were regarding something he wanted me to try to improve my life. This past week I've been on the phone with some of his close friends from different parts of his life. Its no coincidence that we all feel the same way about the impact he had on us. We only hope that Jimmy continues to develop those traits we loved in Curt and feel comforted that Therese is the kind of mother that will see that through. There was or probably be nobody like him in our lives and for that and many other reasons he will be greatly missed. Whatever after life there is, his soul is definatley making good friends right now. God bless you Curt. Love you man.
