By Louie Ferrera

Q: When are 50 year old jokes the funniest?

A: When they’re told among the same three friends 50 years later

Of all the blessings in my life, and there are many, I count my friendship with Tim and Benji as one of the most blessed. And those 50 year old jokes? They’re just the tip of the iceberg.

Tim, Benji and I met in 1974 when we were teenage freshmen at William Paterson College, a small state school in New Jersey. We were part of a ragtag band of budding disc jockeys at WPSC, the campus radio station. WPSC was like a fraternity minus all of the nonsense of Greek life. It was an everyone is welcome, freak freely kind of scene where for the first time in my life I was being accepted for who I was. The friendships I began to make at the radio station were deep, I was part of a fun-loving and accepting family. It was here that the friendship between me, Tim and Benji flourished. I have vague memories of our first encounters: Tim walking into the radio station carrying a guitar case, Benji sitting next to me in our philosophy class. Tim, the tall and lanky dude with a ready smile, the most positive person I’ve ever known. Tim  has always been there for me, solid ground in unsettled times. Benji, the kind, lovable, teddy bear of a guy who’s more fun than a box of Slinkys. He squints and flashes a big, white-toothed smile when he laughs. Benji has made me laugh harder than any human ever has. Some of the happiest times of my life have been spent in the company of these two gentlemen. Our backgrounds are similar, middle class kids raised by hard working parents in suburban New Jersey. I had friends in high school but these two were different. Our energies complimented each other, our world views and sense of humor similar. Simply stated, we just GOT each other. 

I had alway wanted to learn to play the guitar. I had one as a kid but never stuck with it. The radio station was chock full of creative people…and guitar players! Both Tim and Benji played. Well, that sealed the deal, I just had to hang with these guys. Soon after befriending them I bought my first guitar, a $90 Yamaha. A couple of really talented guitar players named Denise and Carol also worked at the radio station. Along with Tim and Benji, these four tolerated a know-nothing beginning hacker like myself. They welcomed me into their circle and basically taught me how to play. My appetite for music was voracious. I played my new guitar until my fingers ached and was driven to succeed.

Playing guitar together quickly became the basis of the friendship between Tim, Benji and myself, the bedrock upon which everything since has grown from. Making music with another person is a unique form of intimacy, musical expression is deep and very personal and not something that I share with just anyone. The deeper the three of us went musically, the stronger our friendship became. We played guitar together every chance we had and soon became a fixture at parties and around campus. We were never a “band” per say but nonetheless christened ourselves BLT. Our musical styles complimented one another: Benji the hot shot lead player, Tim solid and steady on rhythm. I played rhythm too but also took the lion’s share of the lead vocals, not necessarily because I was the best singer, but by virtue of the fact that I always knew all of the words. The longer we played together, the more our repertoire grew. We were deep into the country/folk rock scene. We worshiped at the altar of the Eagles, Neil Young was our God. We’d get stoned and play and I’d lose myself in the ecstasy of it all. Our favorite place to play was on the second floor landing inside the stairwell of the student center. It was like playing in a cathedral. Our $200 guitars rang out like Martins and for that brief and beautiful time we were Crosby, Stills and Nash.

We graduated in 1978. A year later I decided to strike out for the west coast and seek my fortune in California where I still live today. Through periodic visits, letters and phone calls, texts, Face Time and Facebook, Tim, Benji and  I have managed to maintain our friendship. The fact that we’re still going strong half a century later speaks volumes to the depth and resiliency  of our bond.

My most recent trip found all three of us together for the first time in over a decade. From the moment of the reunion it felt as if no time had passed, we simply picked up right where we left off. The jokes were still funny, the love still strong and the music flowed through us like a river; effortlessly, timelessly.