I was blessed the other day with a letter from my best friend Paulie. Thank you, Paul. This was what, letter #3 in three years? I’m giving you a standing ovation. Bravo!
It’s OK, I talk to Paulie like this, he’s known me forever. What Paulie doesn’t know is that now I’m going to talk about him on here. Haha, sucka!
Paul has gone on to do something wonderful with his life. I am honored to call him my best friend. Paul went into the service right out of high school. He has moved through the ranks and is happily married with children now. However, I knew Paul long before all that.
In Paul’s last letter we were laughing about how we met. We both grew up in Roscommon, Michigan. Went to Roscommon High School, where Paul graduated and I was expelled. I played baseball. I was a pitcher and my catcher was also a good friend of mine, Kyle. In high school I really began to get in trouble. Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, the life of a teenager. Always one to push the bill, I threw grand theft auto in there too, among other things.
One winter I was doing a lot of joy-riding; Borrowing people’s snowmobiles without their knowledge. My mom and dad would have killed me, had they known. These were brand new snow machines, costing anywhere from 12 to 15 thousand dollars.
I would wait until my parents went to bed, then sneak out of my window and ride trails all night, come home just before dawn and get an hour of sleep, then go to school. At some point I figured I needed to get rid of them. So I call up my friend Kyle. Together we found a home for one of them. That left me with one more. Yup, why have one when you can have two? Do it big!
I end up getting in a jam and Kyle says he’s got another friend who might help us, at which point Paulie enters my life.
Now Paulie wasn’t always the productive, outstanding citizen he is today. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t committing grand theft either. Paulie liked to drink. Back then Paulie’s best friend was a 40 of Bud Light. What Paulie needed was some excitement in his life. Paul, meet Mike.
I’m not about to imply that my friend had anything to do with stolen property. However, we met that winter under some illegal circumstances, and have been best friends to this day.
During my high school years, me, Kyle, and Paulie were like the Three Musketeers. We did everything together. Chased girls, camped, drank, hung out at Higgins Lake…. Those were the days. I think I brought a lot of excitement to Paul’s life, and he brought a lot of booze into mine. Thanks bro!
I’ll never forget Paul’s favorite shirt was this black t-shirt that said Dazed and Confused on it. Let me tell you, that says it all. I’ve seen Paul passed out on the couch, in the car, on the ground, in a truck-bed, in the woods…. Well, you get my point: all in that damn Dazed and Confused shirt. Fuckin’ amazing!
In high school –well, after they expelled me – I got a place with the girl I was with. We were both like 17 back then. On weekends Paul would come and stay at our place. We had this big Lazy-Boy chair in our living room. We would play drinking games and cards, but at some point I had to stop. Me and my girl would go to bed. Well, Paul would keep drinking. Never failed, the next morning my girl would wake me up, “Mike, Paul puked in the chair.”
I would walk out and there sits my best friend, wearing his Dazed and Confused shirt, except now both the shirt and the chair are covered in puke. Every damn weekend!
…My poor girl. The shit we put her through. I can’t count the number of times I dragged that chair outside and hosed Paul’s puke off it. Finally she made me haul it to the curb, but not before she got pissed and grabbed a camera and took a bunch of pictures of Paul, passed out in the chair, wearing the shirt, covered in puke. And yes, all these years later, I still have those photos.
Usually I write about me. I’m not trying to embarrass anyone. This is just some funny shit! To this day it makes me laugh. Over my crazy-ass life a lot of people have come and gone. My boy Paul has stuck it out with me. Perhaps it’s the soldier in him. I believe their motto is ‘Leave no one behind.’ My friend has never left me behind. I hope that you can also look at your life and find that one person that, come hell or high water, will always be there for you. You should thank them.
Paulie, I love you brother!
Your boy, Mike.
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