For Kyle

It's crazy to think we have been friends since 3rd grade. From the distant beginnings of Mrs. Fowles to our present distanced friendship, we have certainly come a long way. We met somewhere along the way in class after you had discovered I had a Star Wars "arcade" under my paper name plate on my desk. Which you would eventually copy in a slightly more artistic way. We vandalized the hell out of those desks with our nerd graffiti even after being caught a couple of times. We didn't really hang out outside of school then.

Fourth grade came and offered new adventures and perhaps the root reason we are friends today. The hand drawn nerd arcade was drawn for months until we ran out of ideas of how to make them work. I vaguely remember you and Taylor jumping off a metal cube to impress girls while I went off to play basketball unsuccessfully. I remember playing blackhole in the slide with dramatic acting that no Mexican soap opera could match. I remember us first hanging out in the beginning of the school year. All I remember thinking is "Wow he is rich because he has cool toys!" I think the one thing we would both remember from that day is when you were on the phone with one of your friends and we were playing with your toy castle. There was a sticker decal for the moat with alligators. I remember using the giant to robot and saying "I'll handle this!" At that point I crushed the gators with the robot foot. We laughed so hard. Towards the end of the schoolyear, we slept over at David's with the goal of digging an underground tunnel that we could all hang out in. We stayed up all night jumping on the trampoline and digging a hole a squirrel couldn't even live in. I won't go in to many details since it's a whole different story, but that sleepover ended with you getting your nose busted open by Andy. After you got your stitches, I went to your house to give you a kit kat. Your unhappy dad answered the door and allowed our visit to take place while in the background he attempted to kill a spider. But the end of our trouble wouldn't end there. We would get caught writing notes about our enemy Royce. Most of our combined crude insults were insanely childish and rarely made sense. (not much has changed) But we laughed till we cried a couple of times. I remember how our faces flushed to white when we were caught. We thought it was the end of our lives as we knew it. As it turns out, we got off easy somehow, where most teachers would have slapped us with a bible and performed an exorcism to save our possessed souls.

That would be your last year in Sandy before you moved out. The crazy thing about it all is that we became better friends after you moved. You lived at your Grandma's for a while, where we had some adventures and one of your birthdays. A few things took place during the rest our elementary school years. We kept in touch even after you left. We would force our parents to drive us to and fro to hang out when we could. We slept in a tent in my backyard and got flooded out. Celebrated a birthday or two. Middle school came where we had a few more adventures. Getting caught running in our boxers, you playing in your "heavy metal" band, boating on your birthday, discovering women and music (almost at the same time) We would go to malls hoping girls would just flock to us. We would go on chat rooms with hopes that hot women would flock to us there too. We were real ladies men back then. We would record ourselves doing odd skits with a video camera for a long time. (in a crappy scottish accent "Why am I so fat? I got enough greese in my titties to feed Africa!") We concocted the idea to be in a band. You played guitar while I slowly saved up for a drum set.

The band was a huge part of our friendship. If anything it made us better friends until the end. Whether it was playing shows or practicing in my inferno basement room, many great times ensued. Me, you and Branden would jam, eat spicy fries at Sconecutter, and dream big. As we grew older, we would get into more childish mischief. From egging in Brandens rapist van, to dragging state street and spraying peoples cars with windshield wiper fluid. There is too many memories to possibly recite in all this. I'm sure this jogs plenty of ridiculous memories. We carried on with this for 3 years with several changes and conflicts. But in the end it became too much. The band broke up and I didn't take it well. I'm sorry for the way things went, not that it matters since there is nothing we can change now. But in a way, it led to us slowly growing apart. Everything changed from that point on. Nothing was the same even after we decided to bury the hatchet months later.

Even after things were solved, we talked now and then. We seemed to go down 2 different paths. In the beginning of 2006, we would start to hang out more often. But under different circumstances. You were a much different person. I'm sure you tend not to reflect on these times as much anymore. However, there was at least some good out of it all. You got me and Matt drunk for the first time (and not the last.We gave an honest effort to stay friends even if the circumstances were not the best. My spring 2006 semester is the best one I've had to date. We would go to class and have fun. We made it fun. Bowling was one of the best things we ever did with our lives.(sad) Eating Mcdonald's breakfast was a ritual. Being smart asses in class was practically expected of us. we even had the brief idea of trying to move out into a house with no success.

After the spring semester, we faded away again. Things were still too different. You were constantly changing where I stayed the same. I started to worry about your well-being and if you were ever going to come out of this spiral. I didn't want to get heavily involved. I figured you needed to find your own way out and what you had got yourself into. It was deeper than I could touch. Perhaps I made it into a bigger deal than it was but I knew it was no longer my place to interfere. I'm glad that you eventually did find your way out. You found yourself. You found your religion. You found what made you happy. It has brought you to where you are now. It has brought you somewhere in life that many in your previous situation will never get to. You pulled it together when you needed to the most. I think it's safe to say that I can speak for your family and friends when I say we are proud of you and what you have done with your life even when life threw you a curveball.

Things have changed for the both of us. I like to think that you are a small reason I am the man I am today. Everyone has played their part in help making me who I am. Some more than others. However, our years of friendships have taken me through adventures I would have never been to if it wasn't for you. You challenged me to take chances when I was mostly a scared tight ass. You helped me see a different perspective on life which has significantly improved my quality of life. But most of all, you cared. Even when I was whiny, sad or bitter, you were there. You were there with optimism and reality. You believed in me when I couldn't stand to believe in myself.

I know this is a bit long and overdramatic for just a 2 year absence, but I find myself wondering how much will change in another 2 years. Look how far we have come in 2 years. We weren't even the same people. In another 2 years, just as much is as likely to change. Though, we will still be friends 2 years from now, we will not be the same. We will haved lived and experienced 2 more years of our adult life that will yet again shape who we are as men. Even as we continue to grow older and become [hopefully] smarter, I know we will remain friends for more years to come.

Cheers to you my oldest friend. Thanks for all the memories!







(take care out there and watch your cornhole)