In my childhood view of the world, Joe Demeter was the strongest, most impressive man I knew. Nadine, his wife, the most beautiful woman i had seen with my own eyes. The Demeters were Suburban Park, Hedge Road royalty, good friends of my parents, my sister Leslie's god parents and lived across the street. Their eldest, Joey, inherited many of his father's traits, but was clearly going to become his own unique person. Sandy was every bit as lovely and capable as her mother. Then came Randy.
Randy's ever present smile gave away his nature, that sly grin said, "Let's play, let's have fun." Randy conjured up games of hide and seek and tag that lasted long after the time we were supposed to be home for dinner. He was the driving force behind touch football, baseball, kite flying and bicycle races that stopped traffic on Hedge Road. When he came to our kitchen door, I hoped it was me he would ask to come out to play, but more often than not, it was my sister Jan. Jan was much more fun than I, she and Randy were the same age, she was more wily at tag and could "seek" like no one else in the neighborhood.
Randy was three and a half years younger than I and would have not been cool to hang around, except Randy was cool before cool was cool. Every kid in the neighborhood was his buddy and he was the main ingredient that made life on Hedge Road fun and daring. I'll never forget his Flexible Flyer, a sled on wheels where the rider's skull was the first line of defense against any obstacle in its path. I recall Randy being knocked silly on his "flexie" more than once.
Everyone on the street and in my family adored Randy. He suffered a prolonged illness, I think it was scarlet fever, but I may be wrong, and my grandfather painted an oil of some Disney character, can't remember which, to make Randy just a bit happier. A pall fell over the neighborhood kids, we waited on every word of his long recovery and when he slowly returned to good health, we couldn't wait to share our days with Randy again.
I last saw Randy summer before last when John Mercer was in town and the three of us met at the Dutch Goose for lunch. Same smile, same memories as decades before. He asked about my sisters and referred to Leslie as "La La". I hadn't heard her called that in over six decades, the name coming from Randy's younger brother, Scooter, being too young to pronounce Leslie. Two months after seeing Randy, my sister and I along with our spouses were searching out a restaurant in Paris and I said, "I think we made a wrong turn back there, La La." I could sense that she, like me, briefly went from being lost in the Tenth Arrondissement to being back on Hedge Road.
Randy is such a vivid part of my memories, my childhood. my life.
He will always remain there, his smile never forgotten.....
Robt. Steinmetz
P.S. the photo, circa 1954, is Randy, our neighbor Stevie and my sister Jan in front of our house at 187 Hedge Road.