That's me on the right, and my friend Steve on the left. The guy in the middle was our shuttle driver Jared. This pic was taken @ Mardi Gras in 2003
I have been lucky in life to have three people that i consider my best friends. Kyle, Scott, and Steve.
I have known Scott the longest (23 years, Kyle & Steve 15 yrs respectively). For years, not a day would go by that we wouldn't be hanging out doing something stupid. Much like guys at our age have been known to do. Our main connection was music. All of us were playing in bands (sometimes together, sometimes not) had a love for the booze and the ladies, video games, really bad slasher flicks, football (Scott & I being Niners fans, Steve is a Cowboys fan, and Kyle being a crazy cajun SOB... Is a Saints fan) and respect for each others opinions. Not a bad crew to associate with!
If any one of us needed something, one of the others provided. If one of us was down in the dumps, the others would go out of their way to bring them back up. If one of us was broke or jobless, the others took care of them. All in all a very tight group of friends through thick and thin. We had our arguements. We had our brawls. But in the end we were always there for each other. Brothers from different mothers til the end!
Kyle was the first to move away about four years ago. The group he was playing with decided that it was too difficult to launch a rock band from the good old SLC. He and his bandmates packed up and headed to Seattle. Well, the band broke up within a year. But Kyle met the love of his life, and decided to stay. He's thriving, and i think it's the best decision he ever made.
Scott was next about a year or so later. He always wanted to be an actor, and the bright lights of the movie business took him to LA. He is getting some parts nowadays, and is also learning the other side of the business. He splits his time between auditions, and working as a camera operator on some pretty bigtime movies. His ultimate goal is to direct.
I think it was the wisest decision he ever made.
Steve left for Seattle today. Good old Steve-O. He and I held down the fort at home. Steve was working at a very popular dance club here in town for the last few years as a bartender. He was making a truckload of money and having one hell of a good time in the process. But, after six years he decided he had enough. So he packed the U-Haul and headed west.
As a lot of you know, i spent the last few years traveling the country and a good part of the world. I always took one fact for granted. That every time i would get off the plane, i would head to the club and Steve would be there, ready to serve me a Newcastle and a shot of Jamisons, and listen to my latest and greatest adventure. We would pick up right where we left off. If i ever needed a sympathetic ear and someone to tell me i was full of shit...It was Steve. My great equalizer, partner-in-crime, and loyal friend.
Steve pointed out to me the other day that i would be the last man standing in the SLC. I didn't fully realize what he meant until he drove away this morning. It was an end of an era for all of us. Scattered every different direction, living our lives away from each other. It also meant that we had all grown up, and grown apart. It hit me like a ten pound sledgehammer in the forehead. That the happiest chapter of my life had drawn to a close. I was alone.
Distances aside. We will always be lifelong friends. Steve and Kyle will be living about two miles away from each other, Scott comes home about once a year to visit his family. As for me? Well...I'll be ok. I miss my friends, this is true. But i am happy that they have all moved on to bigger and better things. It would be pretty selfish of me to be upset with them for moving on. Much like it would have been selfish of them to be upset with me for my nomadic lifestyle that i chose to live for the past five years.
I wish you well my brothers...God bless you and always remember that you always have a place here. With the last of the BROhicans.
Thanks for reading,
thatoneguyinslc