Michael, my soccer teammate and playground friend was lost to cancer in 5th grade.
Danny, my best friend in Kindergarten and first grade committed suicide at the end of 8th grade.
And then there was Jake. My cousin, my brother, my best friend of many years. He's been gone 25 years today. I wear him proudly on my arm permanently, with his pinky up and catch phrase, "Why Be Normal?"
I saw the reminder on my calendar and thought, "My math has to be wrong. There's no way it's been more than 15 years. Hell, sometimes it feels like 15 minutes." But the math doesn't lie, I've somehow lived more than half my life without a core person in my development.
