I’ve been thinking for a while about some of the people I’ve known. I haven’t been a great person and wanted to highlight some of the people I should have treated better. Maybe I’ll learn something about being a better person by these reflections.

Andrew had always been one of those side-liners. The guy’s house everyone met at. Where night games of capture the flag and ghost in the grave yard would originate. The kid with the cool basement, all the fun toys, new game systems, a pool. Had a lot of the things the rest of us in the neighborhood didn’t have. His family wasn’t affluent or flaunted their money in gross ways – they just tipped the money scale enough for themselves that they could afford a bunch of cool shit for their kids. I think a lot of it had to do his parents not ever giving up hope for their childhood.

His father had a model train set setup in their basement, a small line, but something a guy that wishes to grip his youth like a warm teddy bear would have. There were train whistles, CB radios, handmade fm-receivers, scopes, a smattering of Garfield paraphernalia, a big old tv (the kind with massive clunky speakers attached), a pool table, all in their basement. A Pop filled a fridge. It was a haven for kids and we used this to its fullest extent. Lots of hide and seek, plenty of games of pool where the games ended with whipping the balls against the rails and themselves.

My friend though was more than a basement. He took most of my shit, one of the few who was my friend when I didn’t have any, almost always available to hang out; he was accessible. Andrew took more abuse than he should have from all of us, and more so from me. He was a steadfast friend of mine and I don’t feel like I ever gave him the credit he deserved. Because if someone is still your friend after you write “die you poo” on his garage door with face-paint makeup, they’ll put up with nearly everything.

I haven’t talked or seen the guy in years, but I think about my life a lot and he always seems to play  a supporting role. He’s a decent person and hope he’s doing well. Andrew, if you read this: I miss our endless hours of sitting next to each other silently, while playing different games.

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Andrew

Posted on

November 5th, 2011

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