They always told such wonderful stories. They told their stories so vividly and with such emotion, transporting the attentive listener into that familiar Louie & Joe Storyland, as they so graphically related their yarns.
We never quite figured out whether they told these stories to entertain others or themselves because they so obviously enjoyed their stories as evidenced by their delightful laughter. Louie's daughter remembers Joe's laugh as an audible 'tee hee hee hee hee' and it went on from there and could be repeated several times. Joe's daughter recalls Louie's laugh as though her were laughing through his nose. She said it sounded as if his head would explode. Suffices to say, each had a distinctive laugh and both were infectious. Often we found ourselves laughing wildly before hearing the punch line of the story. Quite naturally we enjoyed the process as much as Louie & Joe did.
Their stories were mostly of their youth and young adulthood. It was a purer, more basic time. They were raised modestly. They never felt that they were poor.... they just didn't have much money, but no one else seemed to have much money either. It really wasn't an issue to Louie & Joe.
They were both good story tellers. Because Joe lived so much longer than Louie, we naturally heard more stories told by Joe. What was so striking about the way he told the stories was his reverent memory of Louie. When Joe told a story of Louie as a little boy, he felt true emotion and empathy of that little boy who was Louie.
This is an account of those stories and it is being written with much love and respect for two gentlemen who have enriched virtually every life they have touched.
Louie & Joe were cousins. Their mothers were sisters and their fathers were very best friends. They were raised like brothers and they were best friends, soulmates actually. They were first generation Americans born to European immigrants in 1912 and 1914. This was another era which brought recession, depression, war and general hard times.
Louie & Joe lived life to the fullest, guided by their every-growing character and humor. These were two resilient individuals who rarely, if ever, wasted time feeling sorry for themselves. They found strength in eachother. They admired eachother, believed in eachother and therefore in themselves.
Call it coincidence, but Joe's father who was also named 'Joe' had a cousin with whom he also had an extremely close relationship.... that cousin's name was Louie. So it would seem there were Louies and Joes of an earlier generation, but we maintain that THIS Louie & Joe were one of a kind, they were ours!
It should also be noted that in our family, rarely was one referred to without the other - almost as though they really weren't two people, more like one entity. To this day when we say "Louie & Joe" it evokes a broad smile or as Louie would say, "a grin, ear to ear". They just seemed to have that effect on everyone who had the opportunity to know them both.
This family grew up on Louie & Joe stories and we never tired of hearing the same story over and over again. One neice remembers it being more fun than going to an amusement park to watch the way these two related to eachother as they told stories on eachother and made fun of themselves. You simply couldn't help but wonder if there was some small portion of each story, kind of missing..... as though Louie & Joe were saving some small part just for them to share. No matter, as long as we could hear another story. "Oh, tell us another one" we urged, and after sufficient 'urging' they would tell another wonderful Louie & Joe story.
That same niece, Joan Segna, also shared, " There just has never been a replacement in my life for Louie & Joe. I feel so lucky to have had a childhood filled with their stories, their personalities, their fun. Too many of us go through life having to be entertained and not being able to see the funny side of some of the most ordinary situations. It is a talent, it may have come from necessity, but not many chose to poke and have fun with life as they did. They had poor and rough beginnings, but that only added to their character and determination. they beat some pretty tough odds, but then what did they have to lose?....and who know how the next great story might happen!! I was one little girl who knew I was special because not only did I get to hear those great Louie & Joe stories, but Louie & Joe were my family!!". I can almost hear a chorus of 'AMEN's from the others who were able to hear the stories of Louie & Joe and who were also lucky enough to claim them as family.
This is not to imply they were always 'clowns. They definitely had serious moments. They lived passionately, regardless of the circumstances.
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Perhaps the most prominent Louie & Joe story in early memory was of two young men who were walking between the towns of McCammon and Arimo in Idaho. To the best of Joe's recollection this was during the summer of 1933, which would make Louie about 20 and Joe 19 years of age.
The day was warm and they guys were tired, but they needed to reach their destination. Somewhere along the way on of them got the idea to carry eachother piggy back from one utility pole to the next - at which point they would switch and the one who had just 'ridden' would then 'carry'.
The idea was to work and then rest, while the other one worked. The notion made little sense to those of us who heard this tale .... however, Louie & Joe swore up and down that no matter how hard it was to carry the other, "it sure felt good when you got to ride".
Even recently a family member quiried their logic, suggestion if they were that tired, why not sit down for a while and rest? The anwer came swiftly and pretty much sums up the Louie & Joe prospective... "we wouldn't have been moving forward if we had stopped to rest".
Joe later shared that they'd been hoping for someone to come along that quiet country road. When that didn't happen, they decided to provide their own method of 'riding'.
At one point many years later, ther was occasion for the image of that trek between McCammon and Arimo to be memorialized on canvas. It was gifted to Joe, a short time after Louie died and It became a family treasure of sorts. At the very least, it created a tangible link between Joe and Louie's only child, Jeannie.
That painting hung in the room which was Joe's favorite room, wherever he lived. Truth be known, there were undoubtedly occasions when Joe was drawn to that painting as he remembered those two young men and their shared adventures.
The amazing thing was the artist was a third party who had never met either of them, had created something which matched not only the story, but also the metnal image of that long ago walking trip made by Louie & Joe. There are those of us who quietly wonder if it wasn't in some way inspired.
Louie's daughter visited Joe on several occasions after he became ill. On the first of those visits, Joe made a point of telling Jeannie he wanted her to have that paining when he was no longer here to enjoy it. Actually what he said was, "when I go north". but we know what he meant. It was an especially meaningful moment because not only was Joe able to gift his treasture to Louie's daughter, but she had the rare opportunity of being able to thank him for his thoughtfulness..... a gift in itself.
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Louie & Joe could have been considered dreamers. they seemed to have been driven by the belief that the only limits to achievement were the ones you imagine. They dreamed of working together and they did, for several different companies in their young adulthood.
At one point they worked in the same small town, learning to be bakers - at rival bakeries. They learned their trad well and even considered opening a small bakery together, in Alaska. ...... probably would have been a wise endeavor.
As they grew older, they continued to work in related fields, frequently for the same company. It seemed, where one went.... the other followed, but neither was the designated leader. They simply traveled much of their lives together, always in contact, from town to town and even to other states. Not that these moves were ever really planned, it just seemed Louie & Joe were destined to live out their lives together.
Years later these dreamers or otherwise very creative men continued to work together in an unofficial way. By that time, Joe was the successful owner and operator of an automotive tune-up enter and Louie had worked to an accomplished level in the metal fabrication field.
Joe's Tune-Up Center and Automotive Diagnostic Center was not your run of the mill garage. This place was spotless. The mechanics wore white, yes white, lab style coats. The floors were swept and mopped daily.
Frequently on a day off, Louie would visit Joe at his Shop. Joe would say, "sure wish I had a tool that would...." (provide whatever function was needed for a given situation). Louie would go away and 'think' about it. Before long, he would present Joe with a new tool Louie had made to accomplish the desired task. They were quite a team on a practical livel as well as an emotional one. It seemed at times as though one was the alter-ego of the other, although no one really knew whose ego was altered.
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If ever there was a need, on the part of one of these two men.... the other was there!! There would be no "debating it" (another of Louie's favorite phrases), no discussion whatsoever. As though before the needy one knowe he needed something, the other was there with help.
As young men, when Joe needed a suit to wear and didn't have one, Louie gave him one of the two he had.
When Louie had a medical emergency, Joe was the first person called and the first person there. There were quite a few circumstances of that nature during the course of these shared lives.
The beauty of this relationship was that there wasn't one who needed more than the other. No one kept score. One never made the other feel at all indebted.
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