|
Post a reply ||
Re: Joseph Somogyi - Class of 1968
Submitted by Patty Dederick <pdederi1@gmail.com> on 08/Feb/2025 in reply to Joseph Somogyi - Class of 1968 posted by Kathi Darrigan Justino 1968 on 10/Jun/2021
69.203.75.75
Message:
This piece really touched me, so much so that I tried to contact the author to thank him for sharing it. My email could not be delivered, though; I must have had the wrong address. I'm sharing it here, in case any one knows how to get it to Ralph Fatello.
I just read your piece on Joe Somogyi. It's beautiful and I wanted to thank you for writing it.
I graduated high school with Joe but didn't know him well. I knew him only from a distance, heart throb that he was. He was way out of my league and I'm pretty sure most girls who knew him at all had a major crush on him. But he seemed oblivious to that. He seemed shy and humble - and kind.
I want to tell you a funny memory I have of Joe when we worked together one summer at the city pool as lifeguards. I think it was after our senior year. Even then I didn't feel I knew him well, probably because we were both shy and I always felt a little awed in the presence of those good looks and popularity. But, again, he never seemed aware of how attractive or popular he was.
So the story is - and it's my one strong personal memory of Joe - about a morning at the city pool after I finished giving swimming lessons to little children. Lessons would end and the pool would open shortly after and it was during that in-between time when Joe and I were sitting and talking as the kids were getting out of the water on the other side of the pool. We were both watching the kids climb the ladder and leave the pool area when I noticed one of the pucks I used to teach them to dive under water was still on the bottom of the pool. So I stood up and yelled over, "Get the puck out of the water." Loud. No response. So I yelled again once or twice more, louder, "Get the puck out of the water." And all of a sudden I realized how that sounded and Joe and I both burst out laughing at the same. I'll always remember that and it was kind of a bonding moment for me with this high school teen idol. That short interaction as I recall made me realize he was not unapproachable, he was not stuck up or full of himself, but he was shy.
I'd heard many times during my life when meeting new friends that they'd thought I was stuck up or snobbish before they met me, but after getting to know me realized I was very shy. I think Joe and I had that in common. I learned for the first time from your writing that Joe lost his father when he was young. I did also and I think that loss at a young age caused my shyness, my cautious approach to life, my introspective nature, and now I think Joe and I had more in common than that one hilarious exchange.
I wish I had the opportunity to get to know him better and I wish the world had more time with Joe in it. It would be a better place. Thank you for sharing your memories of Joe and I'm sorry for the loss of your friend and for the loss of your Dad.
Kind regards,
Patty Dederick
Replies to this post
|
