That's What Friends Are For

A friend from work, who also went to the same college as me, shared a couple memories with me the other day. One of his memories, I was familiar with. The other, I was just learning of.

The first thing he shared was about, what I consider to be, the remarkable manner of my dear friend E.T. He was one of the most loving, sentimental and passionate men I've ever met. He was passionate about our local sports teams, music, his roots and whomever had his heart. A broadcast journalism major and student government president, he was a talent that loved our school and its teams. One of his last radio broadcasts was during a men's basketball playoff that our Pioneers lost. Gone were our hopes that we would return to Branson for the national championship (and another opportunity for the players to believe they'd meet Nelly). E.T. got all choked up at the end of our loss, and his co-commentator, MadDawg (seriously), finished the broadcast alone saying, "I guess all good things come to an end." My friend asked if I thought E.T. got choked up about the game or that it was his last broadcast. I said it was definitely both, but mainly that it was his last broadcast. Up to that point, college was definitely the best time of all of our lives. And to this day, it's definitely one of the most memorable. It's near the top of the list of incredible life experiences. My work friend went on to say that E.T. always wore a lucky PJ shirt under his dress shirt and the same tie. I never realized that, but I couldn't doubt it either. He was always loyal that way.

The other memory he shared was about one of my absences in a history class, which was a three-hour evening class every other week. My friend was in the same class, and our professor, the amazing Ed Meena, was taking roll, got to my name and said, "Oh, she's probably at the River City Inn." Who could argue that? Not to defend my absence or anything, but the class was "History of Pittsburgh," and, well, I knew where Point State Park was.

Anyway, my work friend and I were both laughing, and it sent me down a path of nostalgia that ended in an immensely thankful place. Because I've always known how lucky I am to have these friends, to have had fate bring us together in that school, during that time, to experience those experiences. We were all pretty inseparable in college, never taking for granted that one day all of that would change.

And it has changed.

We're all over the country, pursuing dreams, having families, doing what we set out to do when we first met. Gone are the days of playing drinking games like Kings in a dorm room. Now we're taking our kids to Kings for Frownies. (OK, so maybe that's just me.) But I promise you that, even though I always got stuck with that cup, the rewards of those losses are everlasting.

Our friendships are also everlasting. And the distance has only proven that. Even when they're not with me, they are, because so many things still remind me of them.

Like spring and the beginning of baseball season and the PJ/Globe wiffle ball matches. Light Up Night and The Happiest Night of the Year. Stadium implosions and new arenas that inspire Redneck Holidays. Thursdays. The very little Spanish I learned, but all the classes I remember. Come On Eileen and Dexy Eileen. Mary Beth and Evil Mary Beth. The Hobbit and Scraggly AssAss. The Quote Book and the immortal outgoing messages from 1624. My brown shoes and Amanda's brown shoes. Beating Cleveland and going to Cleveland. Not knowing our division had a national tournament and going to the national tournament. BGs making friends with baseball players and BGs making friends with Canadians. Pigs and roosters. The Thrust and The Khandaker: the two things most likely to be part of every student activity. Two BGs in a class and classes taught by two professors: how much can one room really handle. Dormal and Shathole. Estrogen that wasn't feminine. Leroy and Lohman. Flasks in inappropriate places. Stuck in an elevator with 15 dancers--all of whom were dancing. The breakfast sandwich of champions in the city of champions. Movies in Joe's room and movies in Zilla's room. Jimmy's and Sanremo's: a choice that always depended on the value of a dollar and inevitably resulted with Pepsi in a paper cup. Panic attacks and political rallies--especially when candidates ran unopposed. Living with Ed and Zilla and living with Cr. Sarah. Living with BG, living with MB and living with GKing. Cutting stories and needing stories. BrianEdEdBrian and MaryLouBeth. That Summer.

The list could go on forever. Just like my love for all of them.