48 hours in Detroit

This is the story of how I eneded up in Detroit for 48 hours.
Back in the summer of 1977, I was a couple years out of high school and worked at Blake hospital. My friends and I spent alot of time on the island(AMI) and some of them had just graduated that year.
Sometime that summer we met a guy from Michigan named Tom Mannausa. Tom was my age and had just graduated from college (took him 3 years). Tom’s parents had a house in Holmes Beach right on the beach, and that house years later would be known as “The Harrington House”. But that summer it was Tom’s house and he welcomed us into his home and his life.
So here we were hanging with a new buddy at his parents beach house, life was good. We would show up at the house, walk in and yell for Tom. As usual the huge console stereo would be cranked up, doors all open, beer in the fridge and of course no Tom. So we made ourselves at home, grabbed a beer and went outside to wait for Tom. Sooner or later he would show up, always a big grin on his face and would join the party. It was a awesome summer, with singing , beer drinking, a bit of weed and a bunch of friends enjoying the 70’s. Making lifelong memories along the way.
Over the years Tom’s life was busy as was our’s and we slowly saw less and less of our buddy Tom. The house which was so cool with 30 foot ceilings and a attic which went from one end of the house to the other was sold a couple times and getting the name “Harrington House”. We talked about the days forever what a summer! Always remembering our buddy Tom and his easy going ways.
Years later, while in Sarasota I saw a building with “MANNAUSA” on the side, I thought this has to be Tom! I searched for a number and got ahold of Tom. We reminisced about the summer of 77. It was nice to talk with him again. But we never were able to get together.
Fast forward to a year ago, I was coming back from Sarasota, when I saw a small sign with T. Mannausa on it. I truned around and went inside to find Tom. I spoke with his secretary as he wasn’t there. I gave her my number and told her a quick story on our friendship. Not long after I got a call from Tom and we picked up where we had left off. The stories rolled like they were yesterday and left us both laughing over the things that had happened so many years ago. So we both started calling each other and texting, it was great to be back in touch with this guy.
Tom has been a busy guy since 77, he is a premier land developer in the area, along with being an accomplished musician ( he has written tons of songs and has recorded with the likes of Rick Derringer). He more recent project was the design and development of the “Jewel building” in downtown Sarasota. He’s an amazing dude.
So what in the hell was I doing in Detroit for 48 hours recently? Here’s the rest of the story.
Several weeks ago I recieved a call from Tom. Now let’s remember that although I have been in touch with Tom, I haven’t seen him in person since 1977. He called and told me he had 4 front row tickets for the Rolling Stones concert in ” the Motor city”. I was kind of wondering ” why tell me?”, then he followed up with “I want you to have them”. I didn’t know what to say, somehow I said “Can I think about it a minute?”, his response “No, just come get the tickets and find some people to go!”. He explained that he couldn’t go and knew I would appreciate them. I was stunned. He told me how much he spent on the tickets and it was much much more than their face value of $1000. I was humbled, the next day I went to pick up the tickets at his office. His secretary said ” you must be someone special for Tom to give these tickets to you”, I said ” I guess so!” . I then went to work on getting three more friends to go. I checked on all the people who had taken me to awesome concerts in the past with no luck, but kept asking.
I ended up with an A-team. I had Chris would had worked in Detroit in the past and knew the area, I added Paul my friend from Las Vegas and formerly from Chicago who’s driving skills where important in this strange “white rain” they had there. Along with a friend of Paul’s we all came together in Detroit. We had a blast, even me who doesn’t have much of anything good to say about Michigan, held back for 48 hours. We were down front for a most memorable event. The Rolling Stones! What a show and what a time we had. It was awesome!
So that’s the long road it took to get those 48 hours under my belt. I don’t know how I will ever thank Tom enough for this once in a lifetime trip.
Love ya man, hope to see you in person soon.