Being a teenager, in itself, was hard enough, but coming out in the 1970s proved even more of a challenge.

They were meant to be friends, the way the cards fell, or the stars aligned, Bradley Stedman and Berit Jensen came into each other’s lives at the most pivotal moment possible. It was early summer of 1972; the Stedman family took their annual trek from New Orleans to visit family in Scarsdale Village, outside New York City. Neither the young man, Bradley, aged sixteen nor his sister Sarah, looked forward to the vacation. New neighbors had moved in from Europe with a teenage boy described by the girl cousins as a heartthrob, handsome with an accent. Being the only boy in a sea of girls, Bradley was allowed to cycle the neighborhood, and he met the new neighbor boy, Berit—the two hit it off. Both boys were lonely and starving for companionship, but it ended up being far more than loneliness drawing the boys together.

Meet Bradley Stedman

Bradley, a lanky Southern boy, had never fit in anywhere, not in school and barely in his own neighborhood. While over six feet three inches tall, athletics was not his forte. He loved riding and showing his horse, Trumpet. He had three friends, the two Rickys from the neighborhood, and Cindy, a family friend in the horse community. His life was nondescript. He had always been an unpopular, nothing kind of kid, so he thought.

Meet Berit Jensen

Berit was handsome with dazzling eyes and a Pepsodent smile but was lonesome and missed his home in Amsterdam, but it wasn’t the whole story. While easy on the eyes, Berit didn’t fit in, didn’t want to socialize, and felt betrayed by the world. Heartbroken, being pulled from his home, he couldn’t make friends and spent all his time re-building the engine of his car or hiking alone. School to home, no life.

They were two lonely boys, each with their own issues, but when put together made all the sense in the world. For the first time in his life, Bradley found a real friend, not only a friend, but one who was the coolest kid on the planet, and Berit, appearing to have it all, found someone he could trust. The family vacation was only ten days, but their friendship was created to last a lifetime, and they were to be…FRIENDS ALWAYS.