Smola

Smola is showing me the Styx tattoo on her shoulder.

Chuck Klosterman on Rock Chuck Klosterman 2010

Smola says she has seen Styx in concert more than two hundred times since 1984, and I believe her.

Chuck Klosterman on Rock Chuck Klosterman 2010

“Tommy Shaw is my idol,” says Lori Smola, a thirty-eight-year-old EMT from Daytona Beach.

Chuck Klosterman on Rock Chuck Klosterman 2010

Smola says she has seen Styx in concert more than two hundred times since 1984, and I believe her.

That ’70s Cruise Chuck Klosterman 2006

Smola is showing me the Styx tattoo on her shoulder.

That ’70s Cruise Chuck Klosterman 2006

“Tommy Shaw is my idol,” says Lori Smola, a thirty-eight-year-old EMT from Daytona Beach.

That ’70s Cruise Chuck Klosterman 2006

All that was missing was Bobby Smola, sitting on that old log, looking over his shoulder at me as I came down the path.

Hoopi Shoopi Donna Suzanne Strempek Shea 1996

And it got easier the more I did it, tucking him into conversation, saying Bobby Smola this and Bobby Smola that, so often, I guess, that one Saturday morning my father suddenly asked me, “Why are you always talking about Bobby Smola?”

Hoopi Shoopi Donna Suzanne Strempek Shea 1996

Actually, I recently had begun mentioning Bobby Smola to my parents, dropping him into conversations, just to test the waters of what they might think of my talking about a boy.

Hoopi Shoopi Donna Suzanne Strempek Shea 1996

But there went Richie, and next came Phil, in between them only the announcement by Sister that though he was listed in the programs, which had been written months ago to take advantage of a savings offer at the printer, former class member Robert Smola since has moved away with his family.

Hoopi Shoopi Donna Suzanne Strempek Shea 1996