Old and New Friends

Sometimes events just happen like they were meant to.  I had one of those recently.  It had to do with renewing a very old friendship and making a new friend.  Somehow it felt orchestrated, choreographed.

It all started when I connected on Facebook with a school friend from West High School days.  Ray Tracey had been a Navajo exchange student from New Mexico at West.  He also attended BYU and while there had started acting.  He starred in some short movies and a full-length feature called Joe Panther.  He moved to the LA area trying to establish his acting career, and while there appeared in some TV shows and got a gig appearing on a TV show starring Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers called Hart to Hart.  

He returned to New Mexico and once again became involved in making Indian jewelry that his grandfather had made.  His father, by the way, was a World War II a Code Talker trainer, those Navajos who communicated in a way that was never broken by Axis forces. 

Ray has been creating beautiful Indian jewelry for over 30 years.  One can see his wears at traceydesignsinc.com, and it was his jewelry business that brought him to Southern California, and specifically to Pasadena, to participate in a craft show.

I found out on Facebook about the Show and decided to go see him.  It didn't take long to find his booth, but for about a half hour, there were always people speaking with him.  I noticed a couple of older people that were speaking with him and had stayed for about ten minutes.  I realized that I couldn't continue to wait and so I sauntered up to the booth from an angle. "Bob Davis," he cried out.  "You haven't changed a bit.  I could have picked you out in a crowd."  

We chatted for a minute or so, renewing our friendship, and then he introduced me to two older people.  One was a man my age who looked familiar named David Stark, and the other was an 88-year old woman named Jane Withers.  I was told that their connection had been on the episode of Hart to Hart that they both had been participants, and that Jane and taken a liking to Ray.  She was there to see him, as I had done.

The four of us talked non-stop for about 45 amazing minutes.  Jane was full of stories about her career, but showed interest in both Ray and me, anxious to learn what Ray was up to, and to get to know me.  She commented that she liked my eyes and that they appeared to show that I was a "good person." 

Prior to my appearance, Jane and Ray had decided to go out to dinner the next day, but because she seemed taken with me, she invited me to attend as well, if it was okay with Ray, which it was.  I was speechless, but then recovered and said that I thought I could but needed to check with my wife. After I left, and after I had spoken with my wife, I phoned Ray and we finalized the date, and Ray thought that it was fine if my wife came. 

The dinner discussion was incredible!  Between Ray and I occasionally talking about old memories and our present lives while Jane talked with others, Jane modestly talked about her long life and the lives of many Hollywood notables and famous people whom she had come to know.  Among others she spoke of and told stories about:

W.C. Fields, Gregory Peck, Shirley Temple (with whom she had co-starred in "Bright Eyes)," James Dean, Jimmy Stewart, Rock Hudson, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Her career started at age 2 1/2, in 1928, and had lasted into the 21st Century in which she did voice over work.  As a child actor, she was making $1000 per week in the 1930's, a lot of money back then, and with the concurring advice of her father, purchased five acres of land in Beverly Hills at the age of 9 1/2.  For people of my generation, she likely was best known as Josephine the Plumber in Comet Cleanser commercials in the 60s.  

We ate and talked at the dinner table for about two hours, and then it was time to go.  It just seemed providential to meet Jane Withers and reacquaint myself with Ray.  If I hadn't waited to speak with Ray, I likely never would have met Jane.  If I hadn't reconnected with Ray on Facebook, I never would have been able to renew our friendship.  Too many coincidences for them to be coincidences!