I became good friends with a club member named Eric. I never could figure why he was a friend with Jerry in the first place as he did not have the alternative interests that many of Jerry’s friends had. He had an olive complexion which I had assumed him to be part Hispanic because of his Texan drawl. As I found out later that his father was an outgoing Texan but his mother was half English and half India Indian. It was in the middle of the spring semester when Eric asked if I would like to go on spring break with him. I told him that I would love to but I was low on money at the time. He said that would not be a problem as his family owned a condo on Padre Island and since his mother worked for the airlines, we could fly there free. Eric had an offer that I could not refuse.
Spring break arrived and Eric had the round trip tickets for the both of us. Eric and I drove to the regional airport and took a small prop plane to Indianapolis where we would catch a connecting jet to Texas. It was a short but bumpy half hour flight to Indianapolis and we were the only passengers on board.
After we were in the air I said to Eric, “Thanks for taking me along. Right now I would have been alone on campus for a week.”
“I glad to have you along” said Eric, “Of all our mutual friends; you are the only one that I would hang out with outside of campus.”
“Really?” I asked, “How come?”
“Some of the guys are really on a different level if you know what I mean” said Eric and I nodded, “It is a mutual interest that keeps me around them. I think you are the only normal person in the group who I can relate to or introduce to my family.”
“How about Mike?” I inquired.
“Mike’s OK” said Eric “But he is too cocky for me and I don’t get along with him that well.”
“I can relate to that.” I said, “Mike and I have been campus buddies since day one but he can get on my nerves. I understand.”
“When we get on the jet to Texas, you will get to meet my mother” He said, “She is a stewardess on our flight and will be staying with us on Padre Island.”
“Sounds great” I said, “I would like to meet her. You have never spoke much about your family with guys and have you ever…………”
Eric smiled and said, “Yes and you are the only one that I would invite to our party”
The plane landed and we had to hurry through the terminal to catch our connecting flight. We boarded the 707 and found that our seats were in first class. That was very unexpected and appreciated. Eric and I buckled up and minutes later the jet was taxiing down the runway. It was then that I first saw Eric’s mother, Gladys. I expected that she would look more Indian with a nose piercing and a red dot on the forehead but I was surprised. She smiled at us and waved while she was giving the safety instructions to the passengers. She was about five foot three with shoulder length black hair and thin. She had no body piercing, no red dots, and had a light olive complexion like Eric’s. I immediately fell in love with her voice as she had this soft British accent. The trip to Texas was very smooth and we received the best care. Eric’s mother made sure that we got our small bottles of liquor even though Eric was not 21 yet. Eric made a quick introduction to his mother for me and she was glad to meet me. There was little further conversation with her during the trip as she was busy doing her job. The plane landed and we grabbed our carry on luggage while exiting the jet. We waited at the gate for his mother. All the passengers had exited and then a few minutes later, the flight crew appeared. Gladys departed from the flight crew with her roll about suit bag and joined our company.
Gladys and Eric hugged and kissed as they had not seen each other for some time. She was now free to talk with us and be herself. She insisted that I call her “Addy” as her friends do. Eric’s father would not be joining us as he had business concerns to take care of but he sent his love to Eric. We walked out to the parking area and took the shuttle to the long term lot. After finding Addy’s mustang, we piled our luggage into the trunk and piled ourselves inside the car. We drove towards Padre Island and made a quick drive through for some fast food along the way. As we approached the area, we were stuck in rush hour traffic caused by all the kids on spring break. It took about one hour to get within ten miles of their condo and two hours to go that last ten miles. Once at the condo, we crashed for the evening. Gladys had been on duty since five in the morning and was beat. Eric and I stayed up for about another hour but soon went to sleep early also. It was a great condo that they owned. It was on the twelfth floor with both bedrooms facing a great view of the Gulf. Eric’s mother had the master bedroom and we had the second bedroom with twin beds.