I met my two best friends, Dale and Frank, in grade school around the end of the seventh grade. We have been the best of friends ever since. We have played (see the Arcade to MMORPGs post), had guys nights out, triple dated, told our darkest secrets that no one will ever know, and helped each other in times of need.
When we were young, we went everywhere in Dale's white 1964 1/2 Mustang. Dale lived in Point, TX and Frank lived in Emory, TX. On guys nights out, we would sometimes travel the back roads just talking and kicking up dust. Dale had a real nice sound system in his car. He had 12 inch woofers, high end tweeters, couple of 6x9s and door speakers. I would sit in the back seat normally because I really didn't care one way or the other. My ears would be ringing typically when we got out of his car. Is it normal to still here the ringing in my ears now? Well that happens when you listen to loud music so don't do that kids :)
We had some great date nights. We took our dates to someone's pond that Frank knew. We were all swimming and frolicking. I remember a bat flew back and forth over the water but just ignored it as I had my mind on more important things :) At one point a truck drove up and a guy asked us what we were doing. Frank knew the guy and told him we were on a date with our girlfriends. The guy allowed us to stay and we continued having a fun night. We would also take our dates to a Chinese restaurant in Greenville, TX. We saved our money for an expensive night out and took our dates to Benihana. At that time, I had never been anywhere like that and really enjoyed the food and the cook juggling food and knives in front of us. If you want to impress your girlfriends, surprise them with exceptional nights out. One night we were following a group of people to some cliff. A lot of the kids were running and jumping off. You would hear them scream all the way down which was about 18-20 feet to the water. Well everyone was doing it so I thought I would do the opposite of what my Mom always said was a bad idea: "If your friend jumped off a cliff would you follow??" It was dark so I didn't even know how far out I needed to jump to hit the water at the bottom. I knew that my inertia would propel me away from the cliff edge so I took a running start and jumped. If you have never jumped off of a tall cliff, it is one of the most exhilarating things you can do. I felt like I was just hanging in midair and that I would never hit the water while my stomach was in my throat. When I finally hit, I landed in mud all the way to my waist. Luckily there was water but I'm pretty sure I was supposed to have landed further away from the cliff :) Seriously, never jump off of a cliff without knowing what you are jumping into. Some things you should really listen to your parents about not doing :) I could have easily landed on rocks or other people that jumped before me. That is about the stupidest thing I have ever done. I'll never forget how it felt though.
Over the years we have all helped each other. Dale attended college at Texas A&M at College Station. While he was there, he met a girl who would become his wife. The place he worked had plans for him and wanted him to work downtown Dallas. They had to move quickly so I went down and helped them move their stuff to my house. They stayed with me while they looked for an apartment to stay in. I had a four bedroom, two bath home at that time so we had plenty of room. Frank did the same for me one time. We moved my stuff to his Uncle Carl's near Sulphur Springs, TX, where he was staying at the time. I stayed with him while I tried to get my life ironed out. I was unhappy where I was. He was a lifesaver. Speaking of lifesaver, Dale was a manager for his company in downtown Dallas, TX. I had been working for a start up company that promised shares of stock for working 60 hours a week. My gamble did not pay off and all my hard work went down the drain after the company laid off most of their employees and eventually went bankrupt. I was out of a job for three months until Dale told me he needed a XML specialist. I didn't know anything about XML at that time. It didn't take me long to figure it all out though. I studied it quickly and then applied for the job. Thanks to him I was able to get back on my feet and start getting my finances back in order.
In life, it is always good to have really good friends. Friends that will bend over backward to help you in times of need. Friends to have good times with. Friends to grow old with. Dale lives close to me and we go have lunch occasionally. Frank lives near Washington D.C. and I rarely get to see him. He tries to come to Texas at Christmas time. I have visited him and he took me to all the historical places in D.C. We had a blast hanging out a few days before I had to go home. His wife, Promise, makes some excellent meals. His daughter Samantha and I had fun getting to know each other even though I knew her since she was a baby. Frank, Dale, and I are more like brothers and our children think we are. They call us Uncle :)
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