Local Life, Opinion

Retro RFH Best Buds & A Bridge Message

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With RFHers’ graduation, sentimentality has set in. It’s that milestone summer of senior year … There’s nothing like a few best buds, a graduation summer, a message of forever friendship and the bridge — RFHers’ iconic cement billboard of sorts left over from the McCarter estate in Rumson.

So, to pay tribute to both buds and the bridge, the Retro Pic of the Day offers a glimpse of both in a milestone moment of friends paying homage to one another by painting the bridge way back in time.

The painting in this shot was a message to a buddy to let her know she was special enough for three to risk limb, espadrilles, alligator shirts and the long arm of the law catching them not only painting, but posing for a pic of their homage artwork. OK, so they really did like a little mischief, too.

It’s all about this editor’s best friends perched atop the bridge in ode to their buddy’s RFH Class of ’78 Senior Variety Show finale rendition of the then-popular What I Did for Love from Broadway’s A Chorus Line — “Kiss today goodbye” … there’s an awful lot of sweetness and sorrow intertwined with the memory of this moment back in time. Time. Where did it go?

It was graduation time; and, both the sweetness and sorrow were setting in for childhood friends who would be separated by miles and college choices, but not hearts. Not ever.

This is the stuff you just never forget. As the song goes, “Won’t forget, can’t regret what I did for love.” No forgetting. No regretting. Ever. Not with besties in your hometown and heart. Though, two now are no longer with us, the are never forgotten. RIP, Steph and Dar. Thank you — for all the laughs, the risks, the antics and the love.

The bridge and buddies. Who needs anything else?

Did your RFH pals ever paint the bridge with a message for you? Nothing quite like it.

— Elaine Van Develde

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