Cause you gotta have friends...

Only 2 cow pastures and a thicket of woods separated Billy and I when we were growing up. Technically we are blood related in a round about way. I am 4 years older than he is, so we didn’t really play together as kids. We really only bumped into each other a few times on the school bus. It wasn’t until later on after we had gotten out of school that we got to know each other. We were both employed in the dietary dept. at Hillcrest Nursing home back in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. Billy and I had a ball working together. Our job was to drive the food delivery truck around to the different facilities and unload and pick up the carts of food for the patients. We had plenty of spare time to get into meanness and to concoct all sorts of sinister plots against our fellow co-workers. I won’t go into details, as there may still be a formal investigation going on and I don’t want to incriminate Billy or myself.

Some of the big things back in those days were hair bands and fast cars. Our favorite bands were Motley Crue, Poison, Warrant, and Aerosmith among others. Popular songs were Kick Start My Heart, Unskinny Bop, Janie’s Got a Gun, and believe it or not, Nothing Compares to You, by the then bald-headed, Sinead O’Connor, whom we appropriately nicknamed, Skinhead O’Connor.

Some of the most fun times of my life were when Billy and I, along with our women, would be roaring down the road in his Camaro, with the stereo cranked up. We would all sing to the top of our lungs, “Unskinny Bop, just blows me away, Unskinny Bop, bop, all night and day.” We would often drive to Pigeon Forge so we could cruise up and down the main strip with all of the other cool kids. We would go to every Rod Run that was held, and we would always buy a t-shirt to mark the occasion. We were just a bunch of 20-something year olds, trying to live life to it’s fullest. We did a pretty darn good job of it too!

Through the years we would experience many great times together. I was Bill’s best man when he married his high school sweetheart, Melissa. I remember that day like it was yesterday, both of us standing there at the altar with our Mullet haircuts, cowboy boots, and black tuxedos. Yep, we were really something! If I try real hard, I can still smell the exhaust of his mom’s Lincoln, as he and Melissa motored out of the church parking lot, pulling a string of just married tin cans behind them.

My wife and I were at Bill and Melissa’s house every weekend or they were at ours. We were inseparable. I helped Bill build his house and he helped me remodel mine. We painted cars in my basement (which very nearly killed me). We were always working on old cars, in which we managed to set fire to 2 of them! We had cookouts, parties, and numerous outings together. Together we celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and everything you can imagine. We burned through our twenty’s in no time at all, with not a single care in the world. Our biggest concern was what kind of fun we were going to get into next!

Sadly, as we grew up and started having kids, our fun times became less and less. All of a sudden we had different priorities and responsibilities. Before we knew it, weeks would go by without getting together, then months, and then years.

Nowadays, we run into each other every so often, sometimes at different church events, at the grocery store, or at the ball field. Each time I see my old friend, I get that little excited feeling again, like I did when we used to run around all of the time. I have a small glimmer of hope that we can relive our glory days. I wouldn’t trade being a dad and a responsible adult for anything in the world. But, oh, how I would love to be riding shotgun in Bill's Camaro, sitting in Pigeon Forge traffic, laughing at him complaining about his “poor little clutch leg,” and listening to our wives gossip and giggle from the back seat. And, of course we would be listening to some old hair band cranked up on the stereo. Those were the days my friend, I thought they’d never end…