Today I said good bye to one of my (if not the) oldest friends Scott. At 6 AM today he woke up from my brothers pillow top twin put his contacts on, gave me a bro hug, and walked out my front door. From there he used a $5 dunkin donuts card for what I can only assume to be the biggest cup of coffee hes ever had and began the 12 hour drive to the Delta hub of the United States. This however will not be a sob post about him leaving. He has been in and out of my life since kindergarden so at this point I am pretty used to it.
Our first actual memory is the Christmas play about penguins in the south pole where he played Santa who crash landed and lost his memory, and I was the magical emperor penguin who by clapping my flippers together was able to restore his memory. First through eighth grades we were on hiatus as we went to different schools and were further than a bike ride apart from each other. There was a year there where we played on the local traveling soccer team but that was not a friendship per se. It was not until High School we really became good friends.
He was one of the few friends who could golf as poorly as me so that was fun and then there was the car the P.O.S. Ford Escort which had on its windshield, I believe to be the school record for parking passes on a single car. He will have to live in my shadow because I am 4 days older than me and it was a fluke that he was legally able to drink first because he studied abroad in London. Watching the world cup in 06 was awesome and i learned how to pronounce Henry in french.
He came and left often during college, he studied in California. (I will save our drive back for another posting that is a story in it self) I managed to find work either in other states, or in Champaign where I am studying, so we saw each other probably the least out of any of my friends. That was all right though because when we did see each other we made up for lost time (pause, no homo).
We knew enough about each others respective interests that a conversation was not a lecture of what the other one had done or was doing. Except in music, I do not know any thing about music. He and I have the same views on sports, were tremendously picky eaters, a love for chipotle, and we have little patience for stupidity. He listens to his mother with a faith that regularly dips into fear, I do just the opposite. An expert on history in especially the classic Greek era, he is always good for a story at a party.
In the subject of sports loving one and being able to play it are two totally different things. This is a kid who got a bloody nose playing Dungeons & Dragons. He probably is good enough to play collegate level soccer however physically Stephen Hawking might have the upper hand. He loves soccer with a passion which much to the ire of his team mates makes him a prima donna of inter-mural soccer. His knowledge of the game should lend him to a great coach of it should he so choose. That leaves me little doubt that the current joblessness in his life is little more than a fluke, I know you will do well out there just have that passion!
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Good luck in Atlanta. Pick up one of those "real" housewives!
