My Friends

Everyone has a friend or friends that mean the world to them. In my case, my friends are my world right along with my wife and son. Yes, they mean that much to me.

Please understand why my friends are so important to me. When I moved to Florida, I was eight years old, and like any other kid that was new in town, I didn't know anyone. My father stayed behind while my mother and I set up our new life in a town called Riviera Beach, which is just north of West Palm Beach.

Eventually, my mother found a job managing a motel called the Rock Garden, and part of the benefits she received was free rent. So my mother and I moved in and eventually my father joined us.

In September 1974, I started school at Riviera Beach Elementary in the third grade. It must have been the second or third day when this kid and I walked up to the teacher, Miss Worthy, to get our math test. The reason why I remember this day so vividly is because it was the day I met Darrin.

At the time, Darrin was a chubby kid just like me, and he and I immediately clicked. I remember being intrigued that he was originally from Canada, and at the time I was a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan whereas he was a Montreal Canadiens fan. When it came to baseball, he was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan since at the time there were no Canadian baseball teams yet. I was a Chicago Cubs fan, so we always played someone from each respective team whenever we played baseball.

Also, since we lived in a motel with a pool, I invited Darrin over all the time to swim. We became inseparable and soon I was always at his house when we weren't swimming.