Red Burtts Storys

When Your Smiling, The Whole World Smiles With You:

Human beings all over the world smile, they say animals smile but we don’t know they’re smiling, I believe a person that smiles a lot means that person is content, they love life, they respect people, they are not selfish or mean, they are good people and they are rare in today’s society, do you know a smiler, I did.

Young happy healthy people very seldom think of death, they believe themselves to be immortal, I know I did, dying is for somebody else, that is what makes young people such good Soldiers, that is what makes young people such good Firefighters and Police Officers, they think they are going to live forever, but, we all know that’s not how it works, we all know that our turn, our loved ones turn and if we should live longer than them our friends turn will come some day, it may be fifty years from now or it may be today, or even tonight.

I just lost another one recently, a friend that is, the older I get the more of them I lose, this one was “a smiler” he was younger than me, 15 years to be exact, he grew up in my old neighborhood, I knew his Uncles, I knew his Mother, I remember seeing him running around our streets and our Corner when he was 12 or 13 years old with his shirt tail hanging out, I remember seeing him and his friends playing in Fort Washington in our old neighborhood in Cambridge, I knew who he was, he came from our neighborhood, Greasy Village, he was of the next generation, he was “one of us” he was a street kid like all of us that grew up there in the Village, his name was Paul, his last name was Campbell and he had a nickname like so many people did that grew up on the city streets, many kids whose last name is Campbell are nicknamed “Soupy” not my friend Paul, he was known as “Beansy”.

Paul “Beansy” Campbell grew up into a fine man, a good husband and great father, he loved his family and his life, “Beansy” was a smiler, the smile was always there, always, I bet he smiled when he was sleeping, he’s smiling right now if he’s reading this, from over there, I bet God smiled when he met him.

Beansy came into my life some thirty odd years ago when he came to work for the same trucking company that I was working for, my boss at the time also came from “our corner” he was the generation ahead of me, his nickname was “Jolla” he said to us “I got a new kid from the corner coming in today” Paul got his job the same way I always got mine from somebody on the corner, whenever you wanted something, a job, a ride, a refrigerator, a ticket fixed, an inspection sticker under the table or even a new girl friend you went “Up The Corner”, that’s the way it was, back then.

I saw Paul coming down the platform, he was smiling, I recognized him right away, he hadn’t changed much since I saw him running around the streets, I walked up to him and he said “Hi Burtt” another “corner thing” whether we knew the person or not if they came from the corner we knew their name, we shook hands and I said “hi, your Nellie’s kid aren’t you”, he said “yea”, then he grinned, the friendship started that day.

Soon after coming to work with us Paul his wife and children moved out of Cambridge, they bought a home closer to our work, they settled in and began raising their little family, but it wasn’t all work, the good times started, even in work we had fun, smiling and laughing all the time, Paul “Beansy” Campbell was good at that he didn’t have to put a smile on, it was already there, I think when he was born the Doctor must of said to his mother “you have a baby boy and he’s smiling”.

We all lived not to far from Cape Cod and during the summer months we started something that was new to us ‘city kids’ we started Camping.

Our camping trips resembled a small Army going up into the mountains, Campers, Trailers & Tents, lots of Kids, White Shorts, White Hats, Tons of Charcoal, Cases & Cases of Beer, and enough food to feed everybody in Ethiopia this was all for one weekend and what weekends they were.
We never seem to realize what good times we always have with our old friends until they are all over then when our children have grown and left home and we sit alone somewhere on a summer day we go back, we think of those happy times and do you know what we do, “we smile”.

First the months then the years, they flew by, we had many of those weekend camping trips down on Cape Cod and up in New Hampshire but we were having a problem with our Job the rumors started, we were going to close down, our company was pulling out of the state and then it happened we were officially told that in thirty days we would all be unemployed, but guess what, some of us were mad some didn’t believe it, do you know what Paul Beansy Campbell did, he Smiled, he knew we would survive.

We moved on, we all got new jobs, we had children to feed and bills to pay, some of us sold our homes and moved closer to our new jobs, not me, my brain doesn’t function like a normal persons does, I moved, “further away” but our friendships were to strong to let this change in our lives cause us to drift apart for quite a few more years we would meet and sit around a kitchen table eating, having a few drinks with all our other friends, talking, singing, yelling and smiling, always smiling, but when we were just smiling Beansy Paul was laughing, he loved a Saturday night Kitchen Table Party.

The next few years quickly passed, our children were adults overnight, we were now attending each others family weddings, the camping stopped, the kids were starting their own families and the next step was now beginning, we were retiring, one by one we left our jobs to start something new, this is the period in life where “The kids moved out and the dog is dead”.

Our little group from our workdays would still get together every so often around a kitchen table and we would still eat, drink, sing a few songs, stay up late and there would always be plenty of laughing and smiling, Paul would come in with a smile and he would leave many times just before dawn, still smiling.

I had a phone call one day telling me that Paul had gone to the Doctor for a problem he was having, tests were made, Paul had been diagnosed with that Curse that has been put on mankind, that filthy killer of so many beautiful human beings, my friend Paul had Cancer, the days that follow after being told this are terrible times for a family, I went through it with my Mother when I was fifteen years old, it is pure horror.

Paul went through the battle, I talked to him many times on the phone, I could see the smile over the phone, we even had a few more little “laughing beer party’s” with some of our other friends always yelling and laughing, one of my Mothers favorite old sayings was “Time And Tide Wait For No Man” Paul’s time was running out and in June of this year 2007 my smiling dear friend passed away.

Paul’s wife sent me a Memory Card, it has a picture of Paul on it taken shortly before his death (he’s smiling) this card is shaped like a book marker and it has a beautiful verse on the back that I still pick up and read at times, I keep this card on my computer desk and I often glance at it during the day, Paul is smiling at me.

Last week one of my granddaughters was visiting me and she walked out into my computer room and said to me, “what are you laughing at” I said "I’m not laughing, I'm smiling at that guy” then I handed her the Memory Card, she read the back of it and said “that’s beautiful” then she looked at Paul’s picture and she smiled.

Heaven June 4 2007:
That night when Paul left us to go home God was waiting for him God knew he was coming, God opened his door and my friend Paul walked in, do you know what they both did, my friend Paul and God, they looked at each other and smiled.

Paul is happy now, he’s with his family his friends and all the other Village People that went on before him, no more pain, no more worries, no more dark days, no more sad days just happiness for all of eternity, Paul, His Family, His Friends And God all together, Smiling, waiting for us to join them.

Johnny Cash once sang “We'll be together again up yonder in a little while”

I have e-mails come in to me from all around the world at times commenting on something I have written, so, when some of you over in Germany, France or China read this look up in the corner at the picture of my friend Paul, look closely at it, then smile, you will feel him smiling back at you, you might even hear a little chuckle, go ahead, try it.

Paul “Beansy” Campbell was one of the finest people I have ever known.
RIP Old Friend.
Author -Red Burtt