For many, many years, one of the real eating treasures of our little town, Somersworth, NH, was a place called Ned's.  It was a seafood take out business that served up the best fried clams in the entire world.  It was a very tiny place, located near an old parochial grade school and run by the same fellow and his family for dozens of years. There were no seats or such as it was strictly take-out.  You either walked in and stood in a little packed area with lots of other hungry folks or you wisely called ahead and had your order ready when you arrived.  Regarless, the place was always mobbed during the dinner hours and on weekends.  They did a whopping good business. I tell you all this, loyal airmen, as a set up for what comes next.  Read on.

When Valerie and I first started dating, both of us were struggling to make ends meet.  We'd both been through a divorce and were dealing with the ramifications of these both alone and together.  Falling in love, we knew that together we could pick up the pieces of our lives and make them better but that it was going to take lots of hard work and sacrifice.  One of our goals was to save up enough money so that when we did get married, we'd be able to put a down payment on a house.  But it wasn't going to be easy.  So we started a mutual high yield savings account and made a pact that we would put every penny we earned into that account from our individual pays that wasn't used for bills.  I had child support bills and she, on her own again, had her own lists to include rent, food, etc. As I said at the start, we didn't have a whole lot.  But we had each other and those five wonderful kids.  Anyway, we made the pact and we lived it by it.  For almost two years there were no movies, no eating out, no books, no new clothes, etc.etc.etc.  Slow but sure that special bank account began to grow and with it our dreams for the future.  It was tough, but so were we.

One particular Saturday afternoon, when the kids were with our respective ex-es, we decided to go for a walk.  It was summer and the weather absolutely gorgeous.  So off we went just walking along the streets of town chatting away up nothing and everything.  Just happy to be alive and together.  As we walked along we both began to smell a very familiar aroma in the air.  Realizing we were only a few block's from Ned's Seafood, we immediately knew we were smelling fried clams.  Our mouths began to water.  Ah, to taste those golden delicious fried clams. I stopped and asked Val if she had any money on her at all.  She began to dig through her jacket pockets and I did the same.  Here was a crumbled dollar bill.  Here was another one.  And a quarter, then two and three.  Eagerly we put all our loose change and bills together and hurried over to Ned's front window menu display.  Counting what we had against what was listed there, we were thrilled to learn we had just enough to buy a half pint of fried clams!!  Laughing, we rushed into Ned's and gave the girl behind the counter our order.  It being mid-afternoon the place only had a few other customers and within mere minutes we were being handed this little white cardboard box filled to the brim with fried clams.

We walked away enjoying our small reward, each clam tasting as if it had been prepared in heaven, the were so damn good.  Of course I often think back on that day and realize it was the circumstances of our partnership, our sacrifices etc. that made those clams taste far better than any I'd ever had before, or since.  In a world of excesses, we all too easily forget the simple things that bring us joy and contentment.   To finish the tale, we did stick to our guns, saved that money and eventually married and bought the house that has now been our home for the past twenty-five years.  And in it we've created twenty-five thousand happy memories. That's what life is all about.  Making memories like being without and pinching pennies to taste the best fried clams ever made!!

Ned eventually retired and some of his kids tried to keep the place going but it was never the same and finally they shut it down.  It just sits there now, all boarded up.  But I swear, some days when I drive downtown with the window open and pass by, I can still smell that delicious aroma and my mouth begins to water.

Ron – Over & Out.