Colin

Well I did make it to Flanagan's on Friday after work. I certainly didn't have to worry about dampening anybody's spirit since I'm sure no one saw me plus I was in and out in 15 minutes. I was totally unprepared for the wall to wall people filling the hugh tent. One had to push and shove gently to get anywhere and I barely made it to the corned beef and cabbage. Thinking back I think I did stop by one afternoon (St. Patrick's Day) to see Kevin as they were all setting up for the evening. I don't remember much about it but I was inside the tent. Someone went to look for Kevin for me. I'm sure I didn't stay too long because he would have been very busy. This year St. Paddy's Day fell on a Friday night and so maybe that had alot to do with the magnitude of the festivities. Not only at Flanagan's but else where too. There was a traffic jam in front of the Embassy Suites on our bus route as they had something going on late afternoon as well. The thing that really amazed me though is that I had talked to Kevin many times about this night but had gotten no indication from him of how busy an event this really was! Not that he was misinforming me. I think it's just he can be very low-key to nonexpressive about things.

As I was walking toward the tent I saw a young man who reminded me of Kevin. That in turn reminded me about Colin, a young man who worked at Toy's R Us in Clifton Park near Scotia and Schenectady. I'm sure he had been working there for quite awhile although I didn't get over there as much and so just ran into him last Spring. He was a Kevin look-a-like! I was so taken aback. The hair was a little longer and a little darker. His eyes were hazel not blue like Kevin's very blue eyes. He was a little smaller in build and a few years younger. But he still looked so much like Kevin it was uncanny. The way he walked, his mannerisms, his politeness, so Kevin. It was almost eerie. But as much as I wanted it to be Kevin it was another young man. I went back a couple of times and saw him there. I wanted to tell him that he reminded me so much of my son but I didn't. As young as he was, just graduating from high school, he probably would have felt vey uncomfortable. Perhaps when I go back to New York I will see if he still works there. Perhaps at that point I will tell him, if that is at all right. He is a unique individual and not Kevin and my interest in him is because he reminds me of Kevin. So I don't know whether he would be flattered by the resemblence or not. But to have seen him and to know there's someone walking around who reminds me of Kevin is comforting for some reason.

For awhile there I guess I saw Kevin everywhere. There was even a young man at Camp Givah outside of Albany, a Summer camp, who reminded me of Kevin. I still see him, will turn and look if I see blonde hair or a young guy with the same slender build and his hat on backwards (although that's not only Kevin but the style of his generation) That's what happened Friday night as I was about to enter the tent. I would have followed the young man to get a better look but it would have been impossible to find him amongst the throngs and just as well I didn't. Just as it's a good thing I left Schenectady, too, as I probably would have made a fool of myself gawking at the young man, Colin, who reminded me so much of Kevin - and he, I'm sure was very Irish too.