In Memory

I just found out tonight that my best friend in junior high and early high school has died. I haven't talked to him in years, since he moved in high school, so I'm still trying to figure out the details of what happened, but we had some great times. He was a huge part of me learning and getting proficient at guitar, and he's the first person I ever jammed with, or played a show with. I still have my only guitar distortion pedal I've ever owned that he gave me as a gift. He taught me how to use a whammy bar, and how to play in drop D tuning.

Aside from that, and more relevant to this blog, he was a common comic book nerd. I still have a stack of comics he gave me years ago. The first superhero fiction I ever wrote myself, he helped convinced me to do it, and he actually read it and gave me comments on how to improve. It started as a school assignment, but evolved beyond that, until my computer crashed with all my files on it. But he helped me make comics my own. I still remember going to the original Spider-Man movie premier with him, back before it was cool and OK to be a fan of a comic book movie, back before comic book movies were normal, back before either of us could drive.

He showed me how fun bottle rockets could be when stuck into apples and thrown. He gave me my Jason mask. He helped me deal with bullies Freshman year. I haven't talked to him in years, but I'll never forget our friendship.

Go talk to an old friend, get together with someone you used to hang out with all the time. As cliche as it is, we never know when its someone's last day.

Wes Goeken, thank you for all you've done for me.