The Three Muskateers Together Again

After some effort we finally got the Three Musketeers together again.  The "event" took place yesterday,  Saturday afternoon, Nov. 26th 2011 at my home here in Latham.   It took a lot of phone calls, back and forth discussion, house cleaning and food preparation, but in the end it was all worth it.  Seeing these life-long friends sitting on the couch together reminiscing about their youthful escapades was priceless and we, their families, felt a certain magic radiate forth from this unity known as the Three Musketeers. The guy in the red plaid shirt is my  "Uncle" Nick; he will be 97 this coming January.  In the middle is "Uncle" Joe, the baby of the group;he won't be 96 until August.  On the right in his green Christ Our Light shirt is my Dad, Charlie, who celebrated his 96th birthday on November 2nd.   Between the three of them, they have had 287 years of living.
Some things we learned/re-learned yesterday:    Charlie met Joe Mule' at the start of his Junior Year in high school.  Joe & Charlie both signed up for Chemistry 1 & Chemistry 2 in the same semester - this is an abnormality since Chemistry 1 is typically a prerequisite for Chemistry 2.  Nonetheless, since they had openings in their fall schedule and chemistry 2 just happened to fit perfectly, they were given a waiver and were allowed to take both 1 & 2 in the same semester.  Apparently taking the two courses at once didn't hurt, because both did marvelously well in their Chemistry Regents.  Charlie got the highest score and was awarded a medal in Chemistry.  Shortly after wards, after a re-check of the Chemistry test answers, it was decided that in truth, Joe had gotten the higher score and the medal really belonged to him.   By this time, Charlie claimed he no longer had the medal since he had given it to his girlfriend, Kathy Ryan (Johnny Ryan's sister).  This was the first time I had heard this part of the story - I only knew about Johnny Ryan from stories my mother, Rita, told me - she spoke of having a crush on Johnny before she dated my father and Johnny Ryan escorted her to her senior prom at Girl's High in Brooklyn.
My father's Uncle Frank Odorfer (His cousin Flo's father) had a car and took Charlie up to Garrison, NY to start his junior year in the seminary high school in Garrison, NY.   For some reason (yesterday when I asked him, my father stated he doesn't know/remember why), my father decided not to stay at Garrison that autumn day, but instead decided to turn around and drive back to Brooklyn with his Uncle.  When he arrived home in Brooklyn, his father, Joe, had to scramble to find a high school that would/could accept Charlie on such short notice.  Luckily, fatefully, Bushwick High School said "yes"and my father was admitted there in the autumn  of 1932.      Charlie meets fellow student, Joe Mule', and they begin a life-long friendship. Thus began the history of the 3 Musketeers.  Joe lived at 829 Quincy St., Brooklyn, on the 2nd floor of a 3 story brick building.  Joe's aunt & uncle & their family lived on the 3rd floor and another aunt and uncle & their family lived below him.   Joe's uncle on the 3rd floor was a barber and Charlie enjoyed the free haircuts he was given.  In exchange for the haircuts and some good Sicilian cooking, Charlie did electrical wiring throughout the 3 story house on Quincy Street.  When it came time to graduate, Joe encouraged Charlie to attend a newly created tuition-free college in Brooklyn.  The college was so new that there was no real campus yet, rather there were classrooms scattered in different buildings all over the neighborhood.  Charlie, having no definite plans for his post high school days, decided to join Joe at the newly created Brooklyn College.
It was there that the third Musketeer, Nicholas Pascarelli, entered the picture.  Joe, assuming that it was "an easy A", signed up to take Italian.  Nick, an ambitious Italian-American from Staten Island, decided to take the same class.  And, that my dear friends is how it all began.