My Friend...

Jes,

I hijacked some of your pics from your myspace page. Hope you don't mind. It turns out I only had five pics of you in my extensive 20-some pic archive of my life.

It's only now that I write this that your absence is manifesting into an emotional outpour. I feel like your death is the first real thing that's happened to me. I always imagined what it would be like to experience the death of someone I cared about. I would constantly play out my mother or my father dying, which prepared me for something...I just wouldn't have imagined it would be you.

I know we lost touch over the past two years, but I always relished the day when we would hang out again at my wedding or yours to catch up and reminisce on some of the good times we had. You were in my wedding party. I'm not super close to marriage at the moment, but there is a will.

I hope you know that I'm most critical of those that I care about. I know at times I was too critical and demanding, but I think you know that's just me. We did have some things in common, but it may have been our social awkwardness that brought us together? I'm not sure. I've been thinking about it for the past couple weeks.

Thanks for all the music knowledge you shared with me. Thanks for all the late night record sessions. Thanks for throwing all those memorable parties with me. Thanks for helping me make fun of people that I thought were ridiculous. Thanks for sticking up for me all those times when I was being obnoxious and deserved to be punched in the neck. Thanks for not punching me in the neck when I threw that bottle at your forehead. Thanks for being my best friend.

We're going to do it up on WXJM in your memory. Tune in from wherever you are...88.7 on your FM dial :)

-= jeff