I do not look happy probably because it was windy and I was cold or the boys were teasing me, or both. Oh how they would tease and torment me always there was no end to it. Of course they did this for the most part out of our parents line of vision.
Louie Wasser was the Columbia County commissioner. His wife Ellen a homemaker was one of the nicest ladies and delightfully funny and always made us children very welcome when we were at their home, which was very often. But mostly we went on little trips together like to the coast. Where we would rent one large cabin to share near or on the beach. The Wasser's and my parents were big on clam digging. Something I did not like as a child and never cared for as an adult. Oh I would hate seeing those strange creatures piled high in our kitchen sink with their long necks hanging out. I would say yuck!
Actually Corky was my first date. We double dated with Ronnie and his girl friend. So we were one big happy family until tragedy struck one summer day. I was fifteen at the time and Corky was seventeen. He had went swimming with friends to the Columbia River and he never returned.
I got a call in the afternoon of that day from a friend asking if I had heard what happened to Corky, I said no, she informed me he had drowned. I did not believe this was true as my Mother was home and I knew that Ellen would have called her if such a thing had happened. I was crying when I told my Mother what I had heard. She calmed me down and said well lets just call Ellen, it must be a mistake.
Well it was not a mistake. There was no answer at the Wasser's. All we could do was sit and wait. My Mother called my father and he in turn tried to get a hold of his friend Louie to no avail.
A short while later the phone rang and it was Ellen. She was in a terrible state. Yes Corky had drowned a friend had tried to save him but he could not keep a hold on him. Ellen and Louie were at the river as boats were dredging the river looking for the body.
The hurt was so deep not only for this young man that lost his life but for the family. I was crying my mother also, Dad had tears in his eyes and kept wiping them away. My mother and father told me to stay with my little brother and sped off to be with their friends.
I really do not think the Wasser's ever recovered from Corky's death. Ronnie the older brother was so overrun with guilt, not logical guilt as he was not even at the river, but guilt that he should have been the one to die. How a young person conjures up these thoughts is beyond me, but they do. The healing process took years and none of them were ever as they had been. Going to their home was so sad and different. The light and joy had gone out of that home.
My folks and the Wasser's stayed friends as couples until Louie passed away. Then my father passed a while after that. My mother and Ellen continued to be friends until they each left this earth.
So this photo is more than a group of rag tag folks enjoying a weekend at the beach. It is about two entwined families that shared laughter and heartache.
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