Hopefully they can say the same about me when this life is all over
He was mischievous and active, always bouncing around like a squirrel
He wasn't an athlete like I was, he was into BMX bicycling, skateboards, motorcycles, and fast cars
I was on my way to nature, art, literature, and leaving people far behind me
Chris was a talker (I was not and never will be) and could spin a good yarn
Chris and I would ride our bicycles all over town
Then in our teens we would ride mopeds
Then two years after our peds we would drive our cars fast like maniac stunt men
We would party with cheap cigars and beer out on the country roads that I know by heart and drove fast as hell ( we were lucky to live past the teen years, some I know got decapitated)
Every Friday night we ran the night together
The Cardinal football antics of wrestling, fights, and verbal sparring
Another night at the Capitol Theatre kicking open the womans stall door and screaming rude comments about their panties being around their ankles
Walking First Ave. to the McDonalds to hang out
Pumping coins at the arcade till midnight
Some of my favorite memories of Chris were our sledding excursions at the country club golf course and one time we tied our sleds to my cars bumper and went sledding a more dangerous way ( I got this idea from Pat Jennings)
Chris and I loved Halloween so much we trick or treated into our late teens
The adults at the door would tell us we were to old to trick or treat so we would ask them for beer
During Winter Chris would run water on the concrete pad outside the basement door where his room was with his stereo system and water bed
We would play hockey all night long under the buzz of the street lamp
We were two mischievous little shits trying to find our way in the world, we did good things and bad
Chris played his rock music so loud he gave me hearing loss
And oh yea, we use to drive out to Rock Creek and slide across the slick green algae at the dam and go swimming at the beach
The time I spent with the Miller family at their home or camping RV style, it was always a joy to be with them
The last time I saw Chris was at his High School graduation party
I never saw him again
I stopped by his parents place in 87 but he wasn't there
I had a nice visit with his parents that day
I lost touch, I thought he would always be there down the road, but he is no more
In 2006 a woman from Newton asked me if I was still friends with Chris?
I told her that we would always be friends
We had so much fun together in those years.
Poetry by Troy Richard Thomas
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