Honors Dorm

And so the Spring, 1980 semester continued. I loved my Humanities classes, and endured my science classes, but felt I had to stay on track. My parents, in their Kings Point condo, WOULD get their dream, the dream of every Jewish parent of the "Greatest Generation" (though that term had not yet been coined --TOm Brokaw was still an unknown) --the ability to introduce me at an early bird dinner as "Our son the doctor."

The self doubts grew. My best friend Eric sailed through Chem exams, and Bio exams. He struggled with "Lit of the Holocaust" while my essays, penned at 3 am after a night of partying, got easy As... The Lit professor, Helen Fagin, was to me an omen. 4 years later, I was to meet my future mother in law, a tiny Polish Jewish woman, who bore a striking resemblance to Dr. Fagin...But back to Apartment 22...

So I escaped death or a beat down by the Marks Bros angry weed customers...It was now March, and my HS girlfriend Alison came to stay for a week. Talk about being on track: her folks has identitified me as their future son in law, and treated me like a king. They threw a huge going away party for me after HS graduation, and Alison's mother helped her bake delicious baked goods to send to me at UM...

Alison was sweet and cute and lovely and bright, but I wasn't ready to settle down. Still, there she was, staying at may apartment, and we were fast asleep. There was a knock on my locked bedroom door. It was about 4 am. Mark B stood in the doorway, as Alison looked up, wondering whether we were being attacked... I asked him what the hell he wanted at 4 am He stood there, stoned as ever, and pointed at my window..

"Dave --look. It's raining. Has been all night. You know what that means?" I had no idea.

"SHROOMS!!!! There's a field in Hialeah where they grow. They'll be the size of apples now. I'm afraid I must demand the use of your car to go retrieve them."

I told him he was wasted, and to go to sleep. Then appeared Mark T, who, somewhat less stoned, also insisted, and telling me that I'd have "no peace the rest of the night with my lady" if I didn't turn over the keys. I did.

The next day, they returned around 11, with my car intact, though slightly muddy. They had 2 huge buckets filled with the fungi. Carl the Swimmer came over, and they ate them, along with smoking the weed. Their conversations about Carl's "Nazi roommate" became even more bizarre --they started combining his fake names with those of celebrities...

One afternoon, I came home from class (Alison had stayed and planned to go get sun at the pool) to see her with a look in her eyes I never saw before. She was giggling, and wouldn't stop.

Mark B offered "Dave --I hope it's ok --I got your sweet ladyfriend a little high." Alison was still giggling the next day when I dropped her off at her grandmother's condo in Tamarac...

The colorful and bright characters at Bldg. 22 never waned. I met Jean, a pre law student from Minnesota. She studied English, and kept asking me why I was in pre med, since all I did was complain. Jean ended up graduating, and heading to UCLA Law. I wouldn't see her for nearly 30 years, until a reunion party...She found the fountain of youth. She looked younger and prettier than she did in the early 80s...

Joe Durnell led the Honors Students Assoc meetings with his sardonic wit. At the parties, I hung with him and observed. One meeting, he told me to run for president, as it was a great gig, and the president got to decide who went to the national conference trips, and how the parties would be planned.

I agreed, and ran at the end of the semester. I ran against a fellow from New England named Ed, who was so weird that no one understood his speech, which kept alluding to Dungeons and Dragons.

I won, and came home all excited to tell the Marks Bros, who never attended meetings. By now, Mark B had a Colombian girlfriend, who he met through one of his dealers. She was older, and lived in an apartment in West Dade. He decided to move in with her. Mark T looked crestfallen. Neither cared much about my new position with the Honors Association.

Carl the Swimmer kept visiting, but without Mark B there, something was lost. The 3 Stooges had lost their Moe. Mark T announced he was transferring to Purdue, to try to become a veterinarian. Carl the Swimmer stayed for his junior year. After the semester ended, I'd never hear from Mark T or Carl again...

Mark B would remain in the cast for a bit longer...