I was a very lucky man. And, in some ways...still am. One of those pieces of luck was meeting my Best Friend Eddie. I had moved in the middle of the school year from inner city Cleveland to a brand new growing Suburb. At the bus stop to go to the Catholic School, I met Eddie and his quiet and shy Sister, Debbie.
From that very first day, Eddie and I became best friends. And for the next decade those two kid were the most important people in my life ...outside of my family. His sister dropped out of my life in my early twenties, but Eddie and I stayed close until he died at age 69. We talked once a week, every week, for darn near fifty seven years. Never had a fight, or falling out. And we built a ton of memories. I post on his "Celebration of Life "Wall often.
It got cold here today. And that triggers a Memory from last February when we got a rare snowstorm. It made me go look at the Funeral Registry and re-read a post I put up back then. And well, I think it shows what two High School Buddies are like. So here it is. Love you Ed.

Hey Ed, We are waiting for a snowstorm to hit us tonight. We haven't seen an inch of snow in more than a decade down here. The grandkids are hoping for a snowgeddon event. We might get as many as eight inches, which will all be gone by tomorrow night. But it triggered a memory of you and your "three on the column" Chevy Bel Air. We were just driving down in the Valley, and we went to turn around and the snow was so deep you got stuck. You tried sand. That didn't work. So I shoveled some snow out from under the rear tire. You got in and tried to rock it using the stick shift. I said: "Let me get out and push, you floor it. " "Okay." When you started roaring the engine, and put it into gear; snow, sand, ice, grass and mud spun up and slammed into me so hard it knocked me down. You screamed and shut the car off, thinking you had run over me. When I got up, my clothes were ruined, and rocks were sticking in my coat and trousers. I had a bloody nose and was covered in dirty snow and ice. We broke out laughing about how stupid we were. So we put it in neutral, and with both of using our wiry teenage strength, got it to a patch where the tires could grip. We drove home to my house. When we came in the door my Mom took one look at me and said: "What happened to you?" And you, Ed, with your wonderful little smirk said: "Sorry Mrs. Hughes, we had a snowball fight and got carried away." I looked at you- you looked back at me- and we both broke out laughing. I went and got clean dry clothes on, and my Mom made us Hot chocolate. And so, while waiting for the snow to fall, a memory of you was a gift from the past. (That's me and Ed at the Beach, and me in front of his house, which was darn near my house for a decade!)