One year ago today, my best friend passed away. It was sudden and unexpected. He was 57. And, one "H"-"E"-double-double-hockey-sticks(or bamboo-shoots) of a guitar player. Check out his YouTube channel Waggs68 if you don't believe me.
"Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels... his was the most... human."
The one thing we all have in common, is the need to fit in, and find acceptance. As Al Calavicci would say, God, Time, Chance, Circumstance threw me together with my two best friends, Steve and Derrick. Maybe you're familiar with this: we finished each other sentences. We talked in movie dialogue. We made fun of each other, however, even that was not serious. We didn't fit into any social group; we formed our own. We specialized in Monopoly and Risk.
We stayed up late to watch Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" on Saturday nights.
Derrick was into Jonah Hex, Scalphunter, House of Mystery and House of Secrets. He was a huge Horror film afficionado. He ranked the Halloween series.
From the summer of 1980, I got the idea that we could be the heroes of our own story. Over the years, I tried to mold the three of us into either the Teen Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes or X-Men. Nothing clicked.
A few years ago, I started writing as mental health therapy - my kids were driving me crazy! - They still are! I sat down and I sifted out what felt right.
I sent the first chapter to both Steve and Derrick. Derrick was my best audience. He gave me the best feedback and told me what he liked. I wrote a second chapter. A third. Fourth. Fifth. He read them and gave me feedback. I wrote Chapter Six and Seven. I heard he went into hospital. Steve called me. I was just leaving the Post Office to start my route.
Derrick was gone.
"For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Used." - Ernest Hemingway.
The panel or panels, where a character cries out and the echo reverberates... That was me in my postal vehicle.
If I've done this "right"... this love letter to friendship, fitting in and acceptance, will come across as a tribute and memorial to my friend.
"You proceed from a false assumption. I have no ego to bruise. You are my captain. You are also my friend. I have been, and shall always be, yours."
Steve hit me with a quote today, "I guess I just miss my friend." Morgan Freeman's Red, from The Shawshank Redemption.
'Strewth.
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