Shiny forever

Charlie Hallman passed about a year ago. I didn't know it until recently. The local paper report that a community room had been named in his honor was the first news of his passing I had seen. We were acquaintances only. Our boyhood homes were on the same street. He was one of the older kids on the block. The years had separated us then and now but it seems like only yesterday I watched him marching down dusty Ellis street. The royal blue and gold trim of his DC tiger marching band uniform is as crisp as the October air of that day. The image is forever as a first strike coin from the memory mint. Shiny forevers jingle in my pocket at times. The prompts that cause memory recall are so totally out of the blue it seems. Morning coffee. One week before Christmas. Over fifty years after the fact. Rest in peace Charlie.