Autographs

I wrote this after flipping through my autograph book, wondering why I was flipping through it.

AUTOGRAPHS
By Henry David Rosso
Autographs.
They tell a story
A collection of friends
A collection of memories
As you pass through life,
Give thought always to the
Good friends you make along the way.
Cherish them,
Because they will always
Be your prized possessions
Daddy, Dec. 1954

Syracuse Nationals basketball team – 1954
To David my pal,
(Whom they have never met before tonight)
Can't read their writing this many years later.
Al Ceri? Bill Gabor?
Red Rocha? Paul Seymour?
Dick Farley, George Bing, John Kerr
Wally Ostroika, Dolph Schayes

Where are those school chums from so many years ago.

When your married and have twins,
Don't come running to me for bobby pins.
Al Cody.
Hi, Al. Where are you?

Best wishes to you, David
Can't read the first name, but remember the last
Turner. Father of my friend Gary.
Where's Gary? How are you, Gary?

Dear David: When evening draws the curtain back,
And pins it with a star,
Remember that you still have friends,
Although they may be far. Best of luck, David!
That was Marguerite Turner, Gary's mother.
Nothing from Gary.
How are you Gary?
Gary was not well, but he was my neighbor and friend.

To Dave, The best of everything, Sincerely, Bill Nelson.
I know I should remember Bill Nelson.
That's what these books are for -- memories,
Friends we'll never forget. Sorry, Bill. I've forgotten.

Dear David
Be true to your teeth
Or they'll be false to you,
Your dentist, Verdi F. Carets.

Dear David, Best of luck, David,
For a whole future filled with happiness.
Sincerely, V. Gene Clark.
I don't remember, but thanks.

To Dave,
All my best wishes for a useful
And worthwhile life.
Dewitt, our preacher.

We have had a lot of fun together
In Catalina, Pat Hanlon
My cousin's friend whom I had just met.
Thanks for the memories, Pat.

Never kiss by the garden gate,
Love is blind, but the neighbors ain't.
Good luck at Manlius,
Judy Friedenberg
Ahh, I loved Judy Friedenberg, I thought.
Why did she add:
2 good + 2 be = 4 gotten
2 young + 2 drink = 4 roses.

To David Rosso – 1954
Always remember that David
Was the greatest giant killer of all
Be good - Joe Cumminsky.

My teacher: Good luck always
Vida J. Lyke.
How many do they write in a year?
How many do they remember?

School chums
Have fun at Manlius-Dave Stillman
2 in a car + 2 little kisses = 4 days later
Mr. and Mrs. - Robert Kessler
When your in the kitchen sipping tea
Burn your guts and think of me
Only kidding - Steve Herr
Glad he was only kidding

To kiss a miss is very simple
To miss a kiss is simply awful
Kisses spread germs, so it’s stated
So kiss her kid, she's vaccinated.
That was Marlene
And she wasn't finished:
When you get old and live in a tree
Send me a coconut C.O.D.

To my pal, Dave Rosso
Best wishes always, Carmen Basilio
Just before the end for the fighter.
Go get 'em. You brutal tiger. I saw you at ringside.

And sitting so lonely on pages by themselves
No "best pal," no "best wishes,"
Just the names, scrawled in a hurry:
Roddy McDowell, Pat Boone, Leslie Caron
On another page is a picture of Jim Brown
The Syracuse University star - hero to us Pop Warner players
He came to our awards dinner in 1955
And his signature is above Otto Graham's

Scrawls on pages in books, slips of paper
High school yearbooks.
Great thought goes into some,
No thoughts in others.
They say, Remember me,
Or get out of my face and leave me alone.

Leslie Caron had no pen, neither did I
Her publicist said shove off.
She told him to give her a pen.
I'll always remember that.

I sat across the aisle from Andrew Lloyd Webber and didn't ask.
I sat at the next table from Martha Ray in Vietnam and didn't ask.
I sat at a cafeteria table across from Billie Jean King and didn't ask.
They need their privacy. I know I saw them. Don't need anything else.

William Golding signed my/his Lord of the Flies

My UPI colleagues Bill Mead, Arnie Sawislak and Helen Thomas
Signed their books.
One of them got my name wrong; thought I was somebody else.

I signed books - other people's yearbooks.
Will they remember me?
Parts of our lives are in those books
Best wishes for them, high hopes for us?
Something we can share in our later years.
Something we can use to prod our memory
Something we can use as justification
Something we can stick on a shelf, in a box, to be forgotten.