After Woodstock by Howard Reiss
By Karen McCarraher
Jack and Ryan were friends from preschool days. As they approached high school graduation, they talked about their plans and dreams. Ryan planned to go to college, then law school and become a partner in a prestigious law firm. He wanted a penthouse in Manhattan, a beach house in the Hamptons and all the finer things in life. Jack was a math genius, and he dreamed of solving the world’s most difficult calculations and perhaps inventing a supercomputer. During the summer after graduation, they decided to go to a concert being held in a farmer’s field in Woodstock, New York.
When they get to the concert, Ryan is mesmerized by the music, the pot, and all the girls. Jack, on the other hand, meets a girl named Astrid and he spends the weekend in her tent with her. The weekend marked them both indelibly. As Ryan prepared to go to college, Jack changes his mind about going. Instead, Jack takes a bus back to Woodstock and moves in with Astrid. They resided with people who believed they were one with the universe and the universe never ends.
It was almost a year before Ryan heard from Jack again. Jack was living simply. He and Astrid (who had now changed her name to Kai) grew their own vegetables. Jack worked as a carpenter; Kai embroidered flowers on jeans and belts and sold them in a shop in Woodstock. Although Jack wrote infrequently, he never provided a return address. Perhaps he didn’t want Ryan’s outlook on life to invade his peace. Ryan continued on his quest for money and power and attained it at a very young age.
Eventually, Kai and Jack had a daughter they named Harmony. When she was in middle school, she traveled to New York on a school trip and met her “Uncle Ry”. Ryan had never had time to build a family. He married once but it ended in divorce after two years. Jack continued to protest the Vietnam war as well as corporations who made items used in the war. His correspondence with Ryan continued and Jack continued to try to get Ryan to embrace a simpler life.
At age 77, Jack was on his deathbed with Ryan at his side. Their friendship had lasted seven decades. But who do you think lived the happier life?
About the Author
Howard Reiss is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School. He co-founded a soup kitchen in Nyack, New York where he lives and runs.
Published by: Krance Publishing
Available Online