It was March 16, 2016, and I was taking the Amtrak to Philadelphia on Friday. I had a nice nap and realized that Philadelphia was the next stop. I got up quickly, grabbed my bag, and got ready for the next stop. Then I realized that the next stop was Wilmington, not Philadelphia. I held the next seat to stay out of the way.
I noticed an older person next to me had a Penn State on his carry-on bag. I told him I was a Penn State alumni. He told me that he was going to New York for the NCAA Wrestling Championship. I was a huge Penn State wrestling fan, and that I would watch the games on TV on Saturday.
He told me his name was Warren Hartenstine. He was a graduate in 1967 and played football. He told me that he played right guard for Joe Paterno’s coach.
I was a Phi Delta Theta fraternity graduating in 1977, and that we had a few football players on our fraternity. Warren told me that he was a Kappa Sigma, the IFC President, a member of Lion’s Paw Senior Honor Society, and a Skull & Bones Senior Honor Society member. He had some great stories to tell.
As I looked at his iPhone, I noticed that he was looking for a note for Jeff Fisher. I asked him if that was Jeff Fisher from Penn State. He said, “Jeff was a good friend.” I told him that Jeff was a fraternity brother of mine while I was at Penn State. I told him that I knew him well but saw him occasionally at Penn State games. We connected our information to our emails and added it on Facebook.
At this point, I needed to get off the train in Philadelphia and said goodbye.
Another funny coincidence.
