Tuesday, May 6, 2008
When I saw the notice of Mr Hardesty's passing I was reminded of playing as children with Gary, Donald,and David (when he wasn't chasing girls)in the West Independence house neighborhood near the end of a summer day. He would always call out," Gary Dale,it's late.Come on in now". He called his sons by their first and middle name when he meant business. Dropping his sons off for school in that old Pontiac. Always 5 minutes before the late bell on his way to work. Still makes me smile. It's been nearly 40 years since I saw Mr Hardesty and nearly that long since I've seen his sons. He became part of a good childhood memory as he coached baseball, treated a kid to a Dairy Queen cone after a win,and let Gary and I go to the lake with his boat unsupervised (at least I think he knew we went).He made an impact on the lives he touched and at the end of the day isn't that all that really matters? Mr Hardesty stays in the memory.