The Loss of a Friend

It’s a sad fact of life today that we lose so many of the younger generations to drugs, violence, and suicide. In the town I grew up in, there always seems to be yet another death, whether it is caused by those reasons or some sort of accident, they always seem to be close in age to me. I've watched countless friends grieve over their best friends and family, but never would I have imagined it would be someone that I was close with. Early this year, this became my reality. My friend Andrew had passed away.

Now, when I say I was close with Andrew, I mean we had been friends for about seven years, and he would sometimes respond to my messages before our other friends in our group. We used to talk every day, but hadn't been that close in quite a while, to the point that I almost feel guilty saying that we were very close. He had helped me work through some of the hardest times in my life. For that alone, I will be forever grateful to have had the honor to call him my friend.

We even had a tight knit group of friends, and even a few group messages for keeping in touch. We were all very close, but also a good bit distant, since we all worked and were constantly busy. No matter how long it was between any of us seeing each other, I considered them all some of my very best friends. No matter the distance, the second any of us were together, we were just as close as the last time we saw each other.

Almost a year ago, Andrew, our friend Ashtyn, and I put together a surprise birthday party for our other two friends, Landon and Evan. Andrew was the first one I sprung the idea on. He loved the idea from the start, but couldn't think of any possible way to make it to the party, due to his work schedule. The weekend prior to the party, he confirmed that he would be able to help with the party, and even stay the whole time. However, it would be a surprise to everyone else that he would be joining us. Since he was part of the surprise, Andrew was coming to the house early to help decorate for the party. Ashtyn had the task of making sure she and Landon were on time. Boy did I go all out for decorating and party supplies. I had bought balloons, streamers, and party hats, the whole nine yards. I even had confetti for some of the balloons. After decorating the day of the party, we were able to talk for a while and reminisce before the others arrived.

Some of my earliest memories in my friendship with Andrew are from the only class we had together in high school, Biology. Our Biology class was taught by a new teacher, Miss Matuszewski, who was a young teacher fresh out of college. Andrew and I were very quiet in that class, for most of the semester. But once he started talking more, his favorite thing to do was antagonize our teacher. My favorite memory from that class was the day that he "saved" me from Boss, Miss M's ball python. While I knew Boss wouldn't attack me or anything, I wasn't too fond of snakes or reptiles in general, which Andrew knew about. So, one of the days when Miss M let Boss roam freely in the classroom, Andrew and I both noticed Boss head in my direction, so once Boss reached my desk, Andrew picked him up and put him away.

The past months since Andrew have been very difficult, but throughout it all, I know he is watching over our little group. That fact holds some comfort.