I first met Kenny Carroll on April 8, 1978, which was the day that my family moved into our house on Winterset Drive in Beavercreek. He and his family lived two doors up from our new home. Amidst the hustle and bustle of move-in day, Kenny came over and introduced himself. He and I became fast friends when he took me back into the field behind our houses and introduced me to all of the trees, telling me the names of each. It only took me 20 minutes or so before I realized that he was making all of them up as we went along. And so it went with Kenny Carroll for nearly the next ten years.
Since he was so close in proximity and age, it was only natural that we would spend quite a bit of time together. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean we were always suited to be best of friends. We spent an ample amount of our time together bickering and fighting. But that never stopped us from getting together again the next day to find more mischief to get into around our idyllic neighborhood. We scampered around in the fields and woods, trod paths in the vacant lots on our bikes (he had a more mature ten speed than my dirt bike), and held periodic sleepovers at both of our houses, reading comic books, watching movies, and playing records.
A typical neighborhood moment in our driveway: Me, Kenny, and a little Denise during the Summer of 1978
We kept up our association with each other from grade school to high school. At times we came down on the same side of our neighborhood battles, and other times we were at odds with one another. But although as we got older, we saw less of each other as we branched out and found other pals, I have always considered Kenny my friend and I’m sure he feels the same way. Or so it would seem when I contacted him through Classmates.com in January 2008.
Kenny had moved away from our neighborhood in 1987 into Waynesville with his family, where he finished his education. From there he worked as a bricklayer for about six years before joining the Marines. He then advanced into the Army and has been there ever since - reaching the status of a Sergeant. He has been deployed to Iraq three times and has seen some heavy combat while serving our country.
He answered my email immediately from his home in Kansas where he has been located along with his wife Akino, a native Okinawan whom he met while stationed in Japan nearly nine years ago. They have been married for seven years. To my surprise and delight, Kenny told me that he was planning a trip home to Ohio to see his family just five days from our email exchange!
I called him upon his arrival while he was staying with his Mom. Of course, I knew his parents quite well also from years of visits to his place. I was sad to learn recently that his father had passed away in 1999, but was glad to chat briefly on the phone with his Mom again. We arranged to meet on Saturday, January 19, 2008, at a Japenese restaurant called I-ZU on Dixie Drive in Dayton. There we spent a couple of hours with his wife and one of her friends, chatting over some sushi and Okinawan beer about some of the days gone by, updates on mutual friends with whom I have spoken recently, and some of our most recent adventures after growing up.
Kenny and his wife Akino
It wasn’t nearly enough time to catch up on everything. It would certainly be nice to get together again for some more time to reminisce. Kenny has done well for himself and I was proud to meet up with him again.
Return to January 2008…
Continue to the next reunion…
That’s awesome!
Amber
January 21st, 2008
Brad it was good seeing ya again, I really can’t remember anything about trees and names but it is a good laugh for my wife and myself. Keep in touch and the next time I get to Ohio I’ll try to manage more time.
SGT Carroll, Kenneth
January 28th, 2008