I have been sifting through memories of times we spent together perhaps looking for a funny one share. Ofcourse, I was involved in the toad business and felt as though I had made few power moves that rated at the top { hiding in a 5lb tub of Scallops.} I also think the Jello was my idea, but these clever moments don't really compare to the practical jokes you played on other people. So longer story short, my mind wandered more into the territory of how connected to nature, the woods and sporting you were. I first remembered a nice wingshot you made, grouse hunting, in the woods behind The Emerson's at the end of Varney Road. A great moment to share with a friend,as wingshots without a dog invoved, are very challenging indeed. So that was a great memory but not the one I was really searching for.      Last week a great memory surfaced. One that still fills me with respect and awe. On a warm summer day in Barryville looking for relief from the heat we { Ed, Ginny, Nick and myself} rented a raft or tubes I don't remember exactly and headed down the Delaware. The awesome part comes now! Ed didn"t get in the raft. He wanted to swim along so he could explore the bottom of the river looking for treasure lost by canoeists when they capsized. That he did!!! I swear Ed could hold his breath 3 times longer than any other human being. We went for miles with Ed disappearing below the surface for what seemed like way to long, only to surface thrusting some treasure high as he could in the air so we could see it. A lawn chair at one point. Ed was one with that river with it's Eel, Helgrammites, giant Carp, etc. I had never witnessed anything like that and never would expect to again. That was stunning Ed ! Thank you for that display of natural connectedness. I won't ever forget that afternoon. Peace and Love, Randy Lane

So I learned the gift of the gag from working with ed one time while I had the carburetor off a vehicle at the shop ed kept repeating to me "rumor has it those things smoke bad when you rebuild the carbs on them me being young had no clue what he was talking about but sure enough I fired that thing up and it filled the entire shop full of smoke all the while ed stood back by his tool box laughing see I told you those things smoke bad little did I know as I was contemplating what I had done wrong ed had dumped half a quart of tranny fluid down the opening where the carb went when I wasn't looking .then and there I started plotting my revenge and a couple weeks later my opportunity for pay back came ed had the heads off a Ford pickup belonging to the local ford dealer when he wasn't looking I dumped an entire quart down the exhaust pipe and waited for him to finish finally I'm gonna get him back well just as he's finishing up I look over and exclaim hey rumor has it those things smoke bad when you have the heads off ed just looks at me and smiles that sly smile of his and fires it up it's sitting there running huh no smoke well I didn't realize that exhaust has gotta get pretty hot before she'll start smoking but boy didn't she smoke it filled the whole shop full of thick smoke only problem was two sales guys from the dealer who owned the truck happened to be there while this was going on one of them say to the other wow hope that's not one of ours me and ed just laughed it took a road test almost all the way to freeport to clear that thing out filling both lanes of Rte 1 with smoke ya me and do kept everyone on their toes that year. Me and ed hit it off right from the time we met guess there's truth to the saying birds of a feather.but sad to say ed moved on we stayed in touch for awhile but then life came ed moved out of state children were born and we lost touch for along time.id see genny at the supermarket and always asked her hey how's ed doing we'd chat and then off to finish shopping very recently after much pressure from family I caved and got a Facebook account and the first old friend I searched was ed and low and behold there he was should have done it along time ago but my own stubbornness stopped me.we chatted caught up it was nice after all those years.imagine the shock when I open Facebook to learn wow Eds gone I can't even believe it .rest in peace ole friend some day we'll meet again who knows maybe those things smoke real bad when you rebuild them in heaven 

Ed....the muscular kid with the blonde hair and blue eyes.  Always a gentle soul, yet loved to laugh!  I remember one Halloween there was an old bathtub across from the Eldred Inn just sitting there.  Ed and a few others decided to lift it and put it under the light in Eldred.  Just as they got it under the light, along comes a car!  Ed slides down inside that deep, claw foot tub, hoping that the car doesn't stop....it didn't, but you should have seen the look on his face!  Eddie, leaving black marks with his boots on the wood floors in the classroom.  Peeling out, like he was driving a car...noise and all.  Eddie...mooning the cars following the bus around town before the bonfire at the school.  

I think my favorite story that Mike tells about he and Eddie is their rides to work at Ed Smith.  Every morning, the one driving that day would call the other and make sure they were up.  Mike said they would go as fast as the car would take them down 97 up the hill to the Hawks Nest and into Port Jervis.  One morning one of the old guys that worked with them said, "Come on boys, tell me, when was the last time you went 100 mph?"  Eddie turned to the guy and said, "What time is it?" Eddie was with Mike when they flipped the Duster on Route 55, out by Fox's garage.  Mike and Eddie going to English Town to the Drag Strip.  The Weinie Wagon.  (I posted a picture of it.)  And how can I forget how Mike talks about how every night Ed would wipe every one of his tools down and line them up in the tool box before they left.

Mike and Eddie had not been in touch in many years.  Niether knew what had happened to the other.  When I moved to Charleston, WV, we found Eddie on facebook, got his number and kept in contact with him via phone conversations.  It was like all the years melted away.  Mike and Eddie were best of friends, and Mike misses him horribly.  Every day he makes a comment about Ed.  We had planned for him to come and stay with us for a visit.  We are just so very sad that it never happened.  We love you, Ed!  Wish this was just a dream, but save us a place.  See you on the other side, Ed!