my buddy, Special K

I have this friend named Brad. He's a few years younger than I am and I met him for the first time when I was in the seventh grade and he was still in elementary school. There was a small group of us, Joe, Nate, two Brads, and I. There were a few other people who came and went periodically, but mostly it was us five.

I came in comparatively late in the game. The other four were already established friends, mostly due to the fact that they were two sets of brothers whose houses backed up to one another. But it was pretty great, the way they took me in, no questions asked.

Anyway, Brad was the youngest of the group and he almost never spoke. No, that's not true. He never spoke, period. And he was one crafty mother effer. We'd play hide-and-seek in the neighborhood after dark and that kid could stand next to you in a shadow for an hour and you'd never know it. He was so amazingly patient that it was almost no fun playing against him. If he was on your team it was awesome, but only if he was on your team.

One morning, a few years later (we attended the same school at this time), I was in a really bad mood. No one would get near me because I was being a total douche-bag, but it didn't seem to faze Brad. Without any kind of emotion at all he said to me, "You know what you need? Sideburns." I don't know why, but it made me laugh. We started calling him "Sideburns" after that.

There was something joyful lurking beneath Brad's frail, serial killer exterior. As the years went on Brad said more and more and each time he opened his mouth something profound and hilarious came out. He is probably the funniest person I have ever met.

Brad is one of my favorite people in the world (he and my friend Bob will always be partnered in my memory), and soon he will be moving away. I am very, very sad.

I shouldn't be sad. Brad and I haven't spent any time together for a long time. He has his life and I have mine. Everything between us is a long time in the past, but I will always cherish it.

Brad is moving to Florida to be closer to his girlfriend, which is great. But I'm still sad. It won't feel right around here without Brad. I will miss him a lot.