The First One Goes Down...

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of my best friends from when I was young. We were a tight knit little group. There were the four of us... from elementary school through high school. We were Millsers through and through, and a part of that proud mini-society, but our small circle was pretty much the four of us... Me, DW, TR, and DR. We went to school together, played baseball and softball together, hung out together, got in trouble together...

Well, tomorrow DR hits the milestone birthday (One I'll never hit because I'm stuck at 28). I still play softball with DW and TR, but DR has kinda drifted away. I'm gonna see him tomorrow, and hopefully we will catch up then... We had a few disagreements that lasted longer than they should have because we are both kinda stubborn, but we were best friends for a long time, and that will always be there.

Elementary school (1st grade):

DR: "Kurt, I dare you to put your hand in this stapler"
Kurt: "Why, you ain't gonna do nothin' if I do"
DR: "Try it and see"

Ker-Chink...

A moment of awkward silence, followed by a pair of eyes quickly growing wide... then a boy realizing two of his fingers and a piece of paper were all stapled together. Next was a piercing hyena scream and the blur of a 1st grader running through the room and into the hall, hand in the air and the piece of paper flapping like a surrender flag in the breeze.

High School:

Setting - 4th of July... the day after we were all caught drinking, doing some stupid stuff, having the cops called on us, etc... At DR's house...

DR's Mom and Dad: "You guys have no idea how much trouble you are in. You were not using your brains at all. Do you know how dangerous it is to be drinking... (Blah Blah Blah... It all kinda rambles together at this point... then back to paying attention)... We are gonna make you guys sign a contract promising to never drink and drive..."

The guys all sign the contract...

DR: (To his parents) "Now that we've got that over with, will you buy us some beer so we can take it to the fireworks tonight?"

DR quite often didn't have his brain attached to his mouth, but that never really slowed him down much...

I could go on forever with stories about the good old days... God a time machine would be SOOOO handy... ;-)