Editor’s note: Rick McKay, Joe Masonick, and Jack Karolewski, have been annual travel companions for more than 50 years to a variety of sites with many goals. This week’s adventure is the third in the series.
The previous part is at thevoice.us/intrepid-interesting-involved-the-trios-first-journey
By Rick McKay
I explained how I became acquainted with Joe Masonick and Jack Karolewski and the adventure that laid the foundation for our 50-year friendship.
As I reflect on the longevity of that friendship, I wonder what it was about us that made such a bond possible. Was there something in our respective childhoods or upbringings that could have predicted this lasting friendship? In consideration of it, I include a little about each of the three of us.
Joe:
Joe Masonick is, and always has been, a slim good-looking man with red hair. He has an innocent charm about him and a disarming smile. He is a naturally happy guy with a light-hearted spirit. He has an amazing ability to put even complete strangers at ease.
He grew up in Lake Bluff, Ill. to wonderful parents who provided love and support and a wholesome and secure childhood to his older brother, younger sister, and him. In my recollection, his greatest resentment from that part of his life was his Catholic upbringing which instilled unreasonable fear, guilt, and suffering in his young, impressionable, mind.
Joe was always involved in sports from early on. He played baseball with the kids in his neighborhood and climbed and descended the bluffs along Lake Michigan with his elementary school buddies. As a young man he built his own canoe, paddled the waters of Quetico in southern Canada as well as nearby rivers and streams. During Summer 1973, just after college, he rode his bike from Lake Bluff to Los Angeles, Calif. with his best high school friend, Jim Clark.
Jack:
Jack Karolewski is a tall, handsome man, generally sporting an Alex Trebek mustache which matches his dark, brown, hair. He has a sparkle in his eye. His smile, fast wit, and self-effacing humor quickly put others at ease.
Jack had a difficult childhood. He grew up in a two-story house on the South Side of Chicago. His father worked for the Chicago Fire Department and struggled with drink. Jack’s mom died of cancer when he was 15 years old. After her death, Jack’s dad withdrew more into himself and the numbing effects of alcohol, to leave his children to fend for themselves. Jack took it upon himself to make sure his sisters were safe and sound.
Jack found refuge in his bedroom, reading voraciously, and listening to the music of his time, the swelling orchestral sounds of the Moody Blues and the romantic strains of the Cryin’ Shames. He read and dreamed of exotic, faraway places, of adventure and exploration…of years gone by! I would characterize Jack as an old soul, a man out of his era, a helpless romantic, yearning for a simpler time in an idyllic past.
Jack was raised in the Catholic Church, where he was an altar boy. He attended Catholic School. He has generally fond memories of those experiences.
Rick:
I was born in Winnebago, Minn. in 1950. Our family started out in Perham, Minn. where my dad taught chemistry and physical education. After he went into sales, we were on the move, living in three cities and four houses during the next four years, and ended up in Wheaton, Ill. I was very shy as a child and all of these moves made it difficult for me to establish myself with a consistent group of friends. Even though I was very active in sports in high school, I never really felt like I fit in.
My family life vacillated between periods of stability and happiness and episodes darkened by substance abuse. After dad started traveling for his job, mom became lonely and depressed and succumbed to alcohol and prescription drugs. Things would get better for a while before plunging once more into the abyss.
I found refuge in music, sports, writing, and drawing, especially the latter. In many ways my drawings were cathartic and helped me to survive feelings of depression. Later, journal-writing would serve the same end.
As high school graduation approached, I looked forward to college, where I could start anew.
Continued at thevoice.us/love-of-adventure-binding-for-50-years-of-travel