The good old days.

I stopped by and saw my friend Sam today. I make it a point to stop in anytime I'm home to let him know I'm around.

I've known Sam since I was in the 3rd grade. We were closer friends in elementary school, when we were both in Boy Scouts, but we still stayed in touch through middle school and high school. Sam and I both had the ability to mingle with different social groups in high school. That is to say that even though I was mostly affiliated with the "jocks" because I played sports, I was still able to hang out with other groups because I didn't judge. I could just as easily hang out with the smoking crowd if I wanted to. That came in handy my senior year, but it's a story for another time. Sam was the same way. He didn't participate in many sports, but he also was the type of guy that work in between the different groups. When I look back on it, I think it took his parents by surprise. We eventually were drawn back together by a common interest: We both had planned to join the U.S. Army out of highschool. Once we found out that we were both going, we started working on leaving at the same time and being in the "buddy program".

My visits with Sam are usually pretty short because it starts to feel weird if I linger long. You see, Sam is dead. He was killed in an accident our senior year. He had on some dark clothing in a poorly lit part of town, and he was hit by a car. He held on for a day before he passed.

I was asked by Sam's Pastor to speak on behalf of the student body at his funeral. Partially because Sam and I were friends, but also because I was the Student Representative to the School Board. It was the most surreal and nerve racking thing I've done in my life. I didn't want to sell Sam short, I didn't want to babble on, and I didn't want to embarrass myself. When I took the stage, there were probably 600 people in attendance. My speech lasted about 10 minutes, some parts were funny, some were sad, and at the end Sam's mother smiled, gave me a hug, and said "thank you".

Mission Accomplished.

Even before that day, but especially since, I've felt almost an obligation to Sam. I stop by and say hello, give a quick update on my situation, and tell him I hope things are going well where ever he might be.