Unusual Enduring Friendship of the (420) Waldos

The Waldos Are Still Together 50+ years after they created 420.  They have known each other 55-60 years.  Waldos Steve met Waldo Mark, who lived just around the corner, when Steve was in second grade.  Some of the other Waldos met in junior high school...seventh and eighth grade.

To this very day the Waldos, ‘even now in their 60’s’, contact each other every day to share humor and thoughts.  (Not every single one of them calling all of others... but at least one communication in some configuration.  For example, Steve will call Dave, or vice versa.  Or Larry will call Jeff.  Or Mark will contact Larry.  Or Steve will call Jeff.  Or Jeff will contact Dave. Etc.)   This has been going on for decades.  They always have, and still, crack each other up with laughter continuously.

Multiple calls start flying back-and-forth between everybody whenever the Waldo’s plan something.  They hike, ski, mountain bike, jet ski and boat together.  They go to general events, 420 interviews and events, concerts and basketball games together.  They’ve toured National Parks together.  All of them traveled to NYC together to present awards at the High Times Magazine Music Awards, and tear up the city.

The Waldos have always gotten together frequently and still do, EVEN with wives and the raising of kids.  All of their wives KNEW what they were getting into when they married Waldos!   All of the Waldos who have kids (4 out of 5 of them) have all been good fathers and their kids are totally comfortable and accepting of the situation, the 420 phenomena, and the extended Waldo family.

Over the many decades since they were young teens, the Waldos have shared birthday celebrations, weddings, graduations, hunts for ladies, housing, bat mitzvahs, holiday dinners, memorial services, etc. and countless 420-related adventures. (Three of the Waldos still live in Marin County just 15 minutes from each other.  The other two Waldos live in next door Sonoma County only 30 to 60 minutes away.)

Many of the Waldo’s communications with each other have been anything but ordinary.  A communication between Waldos might not be much more than commenting on something in their own lives, or in the news, with one of their many standard Waldo catchphrases or noise-sound effects (more detailed on the Waldo’ s Website.).

Before any words are spoken at all in a phone call, a Waldo might start off the call letting loose with a barrage of continuous comedic screaming, hoots and hollers, grunts, shrieks, wildly oscillating high-low vocal vocal intonations, animal like chatter, other cartoonish noises (like the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes cartoons), or impersonations of people’s odd laughter.  The noises may comprise the entire live phone call, with no words spoken followed by a hang up.  Or, a voicemail might be left with nothing but those sounds.  All to amuse each other, make each other laugh, or share the frustrations of life in a humorous way.

All of the above has been too normal and commonplace to the Waldos for decades—we never really thought about it at all.  It has not been until more recently, when the Waldos have been in media interviews, that interviewers have commented on the enduring friendship .... informing us it is ‘highly unusual’ that:

Five friends go back that far in time - -50 to 60 years.
All five are alive and healthy
All five buddies still live so close to each other, after so many years
They still communicate daily, and frequently run off to recreate together
All of their ladies/wives just accept it (when everybody knows how significant others can  cause frictions.)

The media had always done stories about how Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, even into their 90’s, would get together every single week to have dinner, watch movies, and hang out together. Here’s to good health, and hoping that the Waldo’s likewise can continue on together into their 90s.