THE FIGHT

I consider myself a gentle person. I don’t like violence, fighting, and any sort of abusiveness. I avoid acting in any way, or saying anything, that would make another person feel bad, even if it were deserved. This is my nature. (when I was 8 or 9 years old I punched my neighbor and his cousin in their respective noses, but that was before I realized my nature...and I was provoked.) So, it is with some puzzlement that I recall the only childhood fight I ever had. I was to do battle with Augie Merrighi. We were the same age and approximately the same size, so it would be an even match. It was not a spontaneous affair...we met at an appointed time in our front yard, accompanied by Eddy Siciliano and his cousin Albert. My best guess is that I was 10 or 11 years old, but possibly younger. Augie and I looked at each other, and then asked if we wanted to fist fight or wrestle. The decision was quick and mutual, we would wrestle...That way there would be much less chance of pain and bloody noses.
I remember getting tangled up in each other and rolling on the ground. But that’s It!
I don’t remember how it ended, and even more frustrating, I don’t know why we were fighting!
Augie and remained friends for a long time, and 5 or 6 years later shared the distinct honor of being run out of Hammonton after leaving a dance with 2 girls we just met. That’s another story.