Best Friend

There has only been one person in my life that enjoyed doing all the same things I did. Maybe that was why he was such an awesome father. We both enjoyed all aspects of fishing. We fly fished for trout, we loved surf fishing for red fish, we both had dreams of moving to the coast and running a charter boat, and bass fishing was in our blood. I grew up having weekend long marathons of our favorite movies like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Highlander, and Westerns. We read the same books and constantly argued whose turn it was to buy the next one.



We enjoyed the same video games too. Dad knew Mech Warrior from the inside out, he turned it into a science and hour long discussions of theory and battle strategy. Both of us were involved in World of Warcraft and would help each other do quests and instances. The last time I talked to Dad, a year ago today was on the computer while we stayed up to late playing WoW. We talked about how church was really good that day, and how Jesse did an awesome job of bringing the message in Mike's absence. I told him not to stay up to late or Mom would be mad and he laughed and told me he loved me.



I awoke to Devin and my phone waking me up. I looked and it was 4:30 in the morning, I answered it and it was my Mom. The rock of our family was audibly shaken when she asked me to pickup my brother and get down to the hospital as soon as possible, she wouldn't even tell me what was wrong. I was furious on the way to get my brother and on the way to the hospital. I can't explain why, but I was steaming mad for no apparent reason. I remember walking in and seeing my mom standing outside a room with tears down her face. That was when it hit me I had lost my best friend. My brother asked Mom what was wrong and she said that Dad didn't make it. Even though I already knew, hearing those four words shattered my soul. I sobbed uncontrolably and then I realized I had to be strong for my brother and my Mom. I still resent Dad for leaving me with that responsibility, why wasn't I allowed to be broken?

The rest of the day is a blur. I remember Jesse cussing in the hallway and I remember driving by all these places on the way home where I had memories of me and Dad spending time together. I remember me and Justin just holding eachother and crying in the garage. I remember how I realized I had lost my best friend. There might never be another person that enjoys all the same things that I do. Thankfully my 11 Month old Son has already started to take his place in being my best friend. Hopefully one day I can be as good a father to my son as my Dad was to me.