Did you ever have a friend...

Growing up, I had this awesome friend. He was the person that I did the every single "first" bad thing with. The first time I got drunk was with him. I think the first time he smoked a cigarette was with me. The first time I saw a full on porno, was with him. And no, it wasn't pervy, it was all pretty horrifying at that age and we ended up throwing the thing in the bushes.

We both had other friends as we went through high school but he and I always hung in the same crowd. We both made other friends after high school but I knew that whenever I went home (he lived up the street from me) I could just pop in at his house and we would be teenagers all over again, talking like we had just seen each other the day before. I hope he knew that he could count on me anytime he needed anything. Whenever he came to Honolulu, we partied like there was no tomorrow.

He was so ballsy. I mean, when we were 12 years old, we used to take his parents BRAND NEW car and cruise around the neighborhood like it was normal. Like it wouldn't be weird to see 2 12 year olds driving a car around with paper plates. It's not like the people in the neighborhood didn't know us or how old we were! And yet, we never got caught. And even if we did, he would have been the one that would have been busted, not me. I feel like I rode the coattails of all the adventures we had as kids and he would always be the one taking all the risks and I kind of went along for the ride. He could make me laugh like no other person I knew and he often did.

Now, all I feel is regret. Regret that God didn't give me more time with him. Regret that I didn't go home more often and hang out with him. Regret that the last time I saw him, I opted not to go with him to a party with some other friends, but stayed home instead. Regret that the last time I spoke with him, I never told him what an awesome friend I thought he was and that he made growing up so much fun. I feel like I lost something too, I lost one of the best friends I ever had but am thankful for the memories I was blessed with.