Dear Editor,
We met in sixty-seven I believe at South Dakota Racing Circuit through one of our mutual friends. They were both motor racing drivers, young men with a yearn for speed and agility to thread the thin chicane. Slim, quiet, almost shy in demeanor, we chatted racing cars and coconuts, and possibly girls. I don’t remember. But for certain, the next time that we met, girls were the center of the whole affair!
It was in May of nineteen sixty-eight that our mutual friend got married. I was the best man at the wedding and Denis Rajnarine was a groomsman when Bobby Gocool married Chandra and Gail was among her bridesmaids. We met again in ninety three, my first visit in sixteen years.
Bobby and I were Texans now. We re-united with Gail and Denis and met children, Alysha and Tariq; plus two others from that wedding party, Donna and Eddie Boyer and their Nick.
I visited Guyana later in the year, this time with Claudette and our daughters, who were all charmed by Alysha and invited her to visit us in Texas. We had just moved to our present home: Alysha became our first house guest. I still have on my to-do list two gifts that Denis shipped to me – two Berbice chairs from his old house. Probably a century old or more, they need tightening and varnishing. I will locate them in my library.
I used to wear cowboy boots back then
and Denis took a shine to them so I shipped a pair to him.
I don’t know if he ever wore them
but since Heaven is a bit like Texas, lots of opportunities abound!
Denis and I spent a weekend together when Bruce Veira took us up Abary, to fish by rod and reel for Peacock Bass. Bruce caught more than fifty on three outings in two days. Denis’ catch was only one. My tally made Denis’ seem suprastellar! Denis has earned the checkered flag on the track that ends in Heaven. Coconut trees line a wide chicane, Peacock bass decorate the waterways. Old friends gather, forever young, drinking coconut water as they fish and chat about racing cars and the girls whose tender hearts they married. Denis, once you have settled in, remember to save a space for me, even if mine’s on the outside lane. Rest In Peace, my longtime friend.
Sincerely,
Tulsi Dyal Singh, MD
Midland, Texas, USA