Lost a childhood friend~

today…spent time as neighbors~

cancer tore him down.

Shane Fitzpatrick and his family lived up the road from my family near Effingham, Kansas. We could see one another’s house from our front porches. Shane, his older brother Gary and his little sis LynnElaine were our closest neighbors. We spent a great deal of our childhood exploring Stranger Creek, the pastures, and timberland (Shane and I almost burned it down…but that is a story for another time!) between our houses. And we attended the same schools and rode the same big yellow USD 377 school bus. We had fun times and we had fights, but we were always friends. Eventually, we all grew up and drifted apart, but never forgot one another. You made life a lot more fun while you were here Shane. Rest in Peace.

RIP Shane Fitzpatrick 1965-2020

Shane Fitzpatrick. 1965-2020. Photo courtesy of Gary Fitzpatrick’s Facebook post. April 14, 2020.

Check out other stories at A Thousand Miles from Kansas that include The Fitzpatricks!

https://displacedkansan.com/2019/02/28/stranger-creek-and-the-big-yellow-school-bus/

https://displacedkansan.com/2019/03/20/baseball-bat-water-blood/

© 2020 Gregory Vessar. All Rights Reserved.