On any summer day in the late 1950s, you could find Craig and John on Lake Simcoe near Barrie, Ontario. In the water, the two best friends would try anything. They glided barefoot behind the boat; made their own skis out of pieces of wood; they even built a jump out of a raft and some barrels, and slicked it with dish detergent.
Craig and John’s family cottages were only a door away from each other. From when they were small children until they were teenagers and had to get summer jobs, they spent all July and August at the cottage. As kids, they would tear up and down the lake in their 10-foot aluminum boats, build tree forts, and play in a clay beach until they were caked in mud.
And although the two were inseparable in the summer, during the school year, they went back to their separate lives in Toronto and hardly spoke. But when the weather started warming up and the families headed back up north, it was like no time had passed—Craig and John were back to their usual shenanigans.
Over the years, their friendship deepened and now resembles something more like siblings. When one got married, the other was by their side. When one had a child, the other was named a godparent.
Now both in their late 60s, the two best friends are as close as ever—except for their cottages, which are now a whopping five doors away from each other.
