In 1970, I received a Christmas gift that later seemed prophetic. I returned from Vietnam in 1969 and reconnected with my childhood friend, Tim. We had grown up in a housing project in South Philadelphia.  We both had served in Vietnam and were trying to get our lives on track, so we rented an apartment together.

His uncle owned a building with a second-floor corner apartment on Haddon Avenue in Camden, New Jersey. Haddon Avenue was once a bustling shopping area but was now in a slow state of decay. The first floor had been a store in better days, but now a plate glass window only looked into an empty room.  Tim’s uncle was happy to have someone in the building and let us rent for a reasonable price. We liked the location and proximity to local transportation.

Tim and I got along well. The apartment had only one bedroom, which we shared. If one of us was lucky enough to bring home a guest, the other would make the apartment available by leaving. That Christmas, we decided to buy each other a gift. Tim gave me a statue of a monkey sitting on a stack of books, holding and examining a human skull. The statue, created by artist Hugo Rheinhold circa 1893, is titled Affe mit Schadel (Ape with Skull) or (Monkey viewing or contemplating a skull).

I was surprised when I got this. At first, I didn’t know why Tim thought it would be a good gift for me. I recall giving him a “perpetual motion” item called Newton’s Cradle. The pattern of swinging and colliding metallic balls demonstrated the fundamental principles of physics: energy conservation, momentum, and friction.  I think Tim still has it.

As for my gift, it was both a humorous and serious study of the search for knowledge. I loved to read and realized Tim was poking a little fun. I also knew his gift was thoughtfully chosen, and he understood my thirst for knowledge. I treasured it more and more with each passing year.

In 1971, I moved to North Carolina to attend North Carolina Central University using the GI Bill. I intended to move back after earning a Bachelor of Science in Business.  But, through a chance meeting with a mentor, Paul Ziff, I changed my plans and decided to major in philosophy. I spent nine years in North Carolina, and in 1980, I received my Ph.D. in philosophy from UNC-Chapel Hill.  I was a college professor from 1980 to 2016.

During this period, I moved across the country, always taking the Rheinhold statue with me. It is still on my bookshelf some 50 years later. When I received the gift so long ago, I did not know I would become a trained philosopher, now emeritus. As I gaze at the statue now, I can’t help but wonder: Did Tim know?                             # # # #

Editor’s Note:  Bill Lawson is a new writer for Cape Fear Voices, we welcome him to the team.