Dateline 4-6-2017

Yesterday I learned of the passing of one of my best friends from my early 20s when the two of us where twin monsters in almost every possible way. I am 6'4", he was 6'6" and at the time we were both pushing or just passed 300lbs. We both had a very high tolerance for booze and drank like every day was an end of the world party and wanted to celebrate until the very end.

We also shared a very strange sense of humor. No one ever knew what would come out of either of our mouths but as long as it was early enough in the evening people were captivated by our jokes. 

We also had the same negative traits, mainly how we were fun-loving drunks until we hit the stage of blacking-out when all the demons are revealed. I never talked to him about this because I felt that we were pretty much on the same page but I felt a lot of both of our anger came from the whole gentle giant phenomena where people are intimidated by your size alone at first, but then lighten up when they see you're a friend, but there's always a sense that they still see you as a monster who can snap at any time.

The big difference between the two of us was, he was always a genuine introvert that wanted everyone to be his friend. However, I was an undercover extrovert, I was into being around a lot of people but the bulk of them had to be already established friends. Those differences aside, we were both seeking a lot of attention but only got it when performing as the person we thought others wanted to see.

We then went our own ways when our party house split-up after three years of living like we were all insane. I went on to become more introverted and he continued on meeting strangers while partying in bars. Our paths would then cross from time to time and we'd instantly pick up where we left off because there was no negative reason we were avoiding one another. I just didn't like going out of the house and he couldn't stand staying in.

I guess I'm sort of lucky because of my 41 years on this planet, this is actually the first time peer, who was genuinely a best friend at a point in my life, has passed away, it's just too bad it had to be him. I wish I still had it in me to write an appropriate tribute to share some of my funniest memories of things that went down but those memories will always live in my head.

Due to this news, it will probably be a slow and somber end of the week for me as I sort through the flood of thoughts. As always, I'll share any insights that come to me when I check in tomorrow.

Talk to you then,

The Wicker Breaker