The Ebbing Tide

The Tide were prodigies of the most devastating depression our modern world had ever witnessed. Generations of families lived together out of necessity. Families had gardens and raised chickens on simple house lots, and they jumped at every job opportunity on a daily basis. The core of the downtown within walking distance or on a public bus route is where you shop for your necessities. Kids went barefoot in the summer to save their shoes or avoid the heaviness of their boots, and so-called “sneakers” were just coming out on the market. Patched hand-me-down blue jeans and coveralls were the necessary style of the day, and handmade clothes, often out of chicken feed sacks, were common. Belts were often a piece of rope, and socks were an unaffordable rarity. A handkerchief was a piece of discarded rag. Each of these chapters contains the stories of my life with Bill Coleman and are the recollections of our conversations during my visits with him over the last few months of his life. These chapters contain stories intertwined with our group of life-long friends (the Tide), our adventures, successes, failures, joys, and heartaches. Life is full of changes at every level. One of those changes is the people you meet, the friends you make, and the friends you lose. These friends are the ever-changing Tide. Eventually, age or death diminishes the ability to make and retain old friends.