Dru the Early Years

After getting a chance to talk to my Elementary School Best friend this weekend my mind started bringing up a lot of memories of my childhood. One of the conversations that we had was about our adventures. We lived in a development of boxes that all looked the same just different colors. I am sure if I was to look at it now from an adult view I would see the robotic view of parents leaving in the morning and parents coming home at night. I am sure that the most interesting thing that my parents ever saw while living in one of those dupicate development houses is the time the house about a mile away blew up and we could see it from the porch. But as a child in that neighbor hood it was adventure after adventure. We were discussing this weekend the long trips into other worlds that we would see without a thought to the rest of the world. It didn't matter if it was sitting in the tree in the back yard or if we followed "Rock Cliff" then passed "Root 2 Path" for hours and ended up in the middle of a forest that to us was a aventureland that know explorers have ever seen before. But looking back now it is hard to believe that this small amount of land that was surrounded by these duplicate houses held so much potential for excitement. Although over 20 years have gone by since the last time I explored that area I can garuntee that me and my child hood friends have seen more in those woods than anyone else has since. I actually can close my eyes and take a tour of this land that was our home. from the "Gateway" across the street to the cliff on the other side. There were 4 of us that traveled that land with nothing more than an imagination and a pair of shoes. but as soon as we would leave JD's backyard and cross though the gateway we were all alone in the world. There were terrifying slips on the rock cliff there were times we just couldn't climb the mud on the step trail. These were the moments that team work was important. We had our own little aspect in the group that would assist each other though the bad times. The Brains that would provide a plan for any situation. The Conscience that would not allow us to do the completely stupid and kept us from getting into trouble. The Brawn that could muscle the team though it all. The Leader, the one that would come up with the great ideas of where to go and we would follow for days if we had to. The four of us had the perfect team, everyone had their part but we all had the one common factor that made the team work, We all loved to explore.

Relationships thought Lost

I have to tell the story of a very important relationship that I thought was dead, I have always thought of this person and talked about him so much with my children that they know who he is just by the type of story I am telling. When I was born my father was in the Air Force and we moved around until I was 4 years old. He finally got out of the Military and got a job in New York. I was scared to move from my friends in California to New York. We moved to our new house and I quickly found out that the new next door neighbor was also 4 years old. Most of this is from what my parents told me since I really do not remember to much of those days. To me I think I met Brian when we went to look at the house before we moved into it. We would do absolutly everything together. He would come to my house and play with my toys until we got bored then we would go to his house and play with his toys until we got bored. There was always something for us to do. Even when we were bored we had fun together. There were other kids our age in the neighborhood and we would play with them and hang out with them also but they would have to go home and me and Brian would still be there. While we were growing up we were totally different people with different goals in life. We were brought up with totally different backgrounds, different religions, different customs, and different opportunities. But for some reason we were still best friends. Until, something changed. I am going to blame Girls and Sports, but I am sure it was my own immaturity that caused us to grow apart. I was getting into the Partying scene and Brian was still the Great student. By the time we reached High School I was Drinking, Smoking, doing things that would cause most parents to keep their kids away from me. Brian was in the Math Club, Debate team, Physics club, etc... Until one day we would only say high when passing in the hall. My senior year I moved out of the house I grew up in. I was still in the same school but with work, after school sports, and after school parties I never saw Brian. He was in the Classes for the "smart" kids while I was in the classes for the "Lets see if we can get him to graduate" kids. On graduation day I remember seeing Brian walk up to get his diploma and thought, "Wow I miss hanging out with him." Years went by with failed College, Military moving, kids, and all the great things life brings and I never heard from Brian again. Every once and awhile I would find an email address and send him a couple of notes. But then Life would happen again and I would go a couple awhile before I could catch up with him again. This weekend Brian was in town. He warned me in advance that he was going to come and visit his family. I was so excited that I was going to see him again now that we have both seen life and have our own families. Saturday, I woke up and was planning on meeting him for Coffee, I was nervous that now that he has Dr. in front of his name and I am just your average Joe walking around this world not contributing a thing. As soon as Me and my daughter walked into the Coffee shop I felt like a kid again, I was so happy to see Brian, it felt like we were friends all along and this was the same kid that I watched learn how to ride a bike. We sat their and talked for awhile but we both had things to do and my daughter was not having to much fun with the two old guys talking about the days before there was a computer in every house, and what is this Record thing... So we decided it was time to go. The next day his sister and her family flew in and we made plans to meet them at my parents house. It was unbelievable that I was sitting at my Mothers dinning room table with two people that I ate with almost everyday many years ago. A visit that was suppose to last for an hour soon turned into 3 and just like minutes it was time for them to leave. As I watched Brian and his sister drive away I realized that this is a relationship that made me the person I am today. This was my best friend for so long that that his friendship made an impression on me and helped me though some rough times in life, even if it was not there at the time. I am a better person for knowing this man when he was younger and I am very proud of what he has done in his life. I now understand that a relationship that I thought was once lost now has the opportunity to be grown again.

Entertainment for All

I have been told by many friends and family lately that I need to write a book. I have seen a lot and dealt with a lot in my life that I guess is very entertaining to others. I have a hard time understanding why but then I read an article about Briteny Spears getting drug tests on her sons to prove that He Ex is smoking Marijuana around them. I guess since that is headline news for the rest of the country my life could be considered entertaining. I am not confident that I can do this story of Dru any justice at the moment since my writing skill are not that great and I am kind of Biased on most topics about my life. There is one thing though my stories that I would like to emphasis to my readers. My brother calls me lucky but I call it faith. I understand very little about the world we live in and the universe that this world is a part of. I know that having faith that things will work out usually means it will work out. I am not sure if the paths I have choosen in life were those of faith guiding me or just blind luck but for my sanity at this moment I am going to say it all has to do with faith. I will post soon the first story of Dru... Keep a look out.

Me and My Brothers (Part 3)

Now I figure I should start my story back to when I was like my brother is now and he was like I am now. Yes there was a time that I had no faith and believed that what I got had nothing to do with God. I believed that those who relied on God was in for a large disapointment. On the other hand my brother was just released from the Army right after the first Gulf War. He had faith that he made it though the war because there was something planned for him. He was getting what he needed to survive after the war and was enjoying College and a nice apartment. I remember that I was staying at my Mom’s house between semesters waiting to go to the Dorms and move my stuff to the Dorm room my best freind was going to share with me. We were two of the three guys in the Early Childhood Education Program at our school. We had almost every class together and we pretty much went out to the bars together. It was going to be a great semester. He had a TV and I had a Stereo. We had a full size refrigerator and one of the largest rooms. I was just waiting for the day I could go up and make the move. But first I had to get the letter saying the move was authorized. A few days into the Vacation I got a letter with the return address of my college. I was so excited. I tore it open, ripped the letter from the envelope and started to read.\ “We regret to inform you that you have not maintained the requirements needed to stay in the current curriculum. We also regret that you do not maitain the requirements to hold a position in our college. Please report to your Resedeint Assistants office so they can assist you in getting all your personnal belonging out of your dormitory room.” WHAT… I could not believe it. It never occured to me that dropping half my classes and not doing any of the homework would give me a 1.1 average and get me kicked out of the school. All I could do is blame everyone else for my problem, “My psych professor didn’t like me. My Teachers didn’t like having a man in their class. They don’t think that a Man should be in Early Childhood Education. They think I am just taking the classes to meet girls.” I never once said, “How could I have avoided this,” or, “what can I do to remedy this situation?” The first person I called was my brother. At this time in my life I only had the one brother, my parents were both dating people that had sons but this was my brother and he was back from the Army. He will know what to do.

Me and My Brothers (Part 2)

My oldest brother can not understand how I can possibly have the faith I have. He doesn’t understand how after the pain and anguish I have been though, I can still believe it will work out. I will admit that my lows in life are very low but my highs in life reach Heaven everytime. My Highs happen more than my lows. My lows hurt but I have learned to bounce right back and most of the time there is a High right around the corner. My brother focuses on the lows and thinks that God is punishing him, to the point where my brother’s heart has hardened and I do not think he can see the High’s in life anymore. My brother called me yesterday asking me how I can have a smile when I make less than him and live with less than him. My response, “Dude, I got my kids in the front yard playing with a ball that my neighbor gave them. I have food in my cupboards that the Girl Scouts donated to us and I have a job that I learn something new everyday. How can I not Smile.” My brother can not understand the beauty of faith. He thinks it is luck that I have what I have. He does not understand that I prayed for something to bring my kids joy, My neighbor’s son got a new soccer ball, He gave his old one to my kids. The Girl Scouts Den mother saw me at church everyweek with two kids but no other adults. She asked around and found out that I was raising them on my own. She could see my faith and her faith led her to bring us food from the donation boxes. My faith makes me happy and gives me energy, my boss see’s this and takes advantage of it. He knows if there is something new that comes up he can give it to me and I will work on it until I figure it out. I know what my brother used to pray for, he prayed for a new car, he prayed for a bigger house, he prayed for a higher paying job. My brother doesn’t understand that I pray for God to do what he thinks is best for me and my kids. He can see in my heart that I will handle what ever is dished out to me. He see’s that there are wants and desires there for me but I am willing to sacrifice every one of them. My Brother blames God for not having everything he doesn’t have. I thank God for the things I do have.

Me and my Brothers (Part 1)

I was talking to my brother on the phone yesterday, We usually talk until his wife yells at him for being on the phone, but this time he said something very interesting. Yesterday was a big moment in my life, it was one of those things where you look at it and say, “God, I knew you were listening.” Unfortunatly my brother does not have the faith that I do. Even though he is 5 years older than me I have hit this world hard and fast while he has taken it slow and easy. I have taken risks and he has been very cautious. He has never had the faith that it will all work out sometime where I don’t care what happens I know it will work out in the end. I tell all three of my brothers as much as possible, “The world is going to pound the crap out of you, Make sure you hit it first and accept what comes next.” My youngest brother is the only one that listens. The two older ones are the ones that have been hit by the world and are now cowering in the corner waiting for someone to rescue them. I have been though a lot in my life… There has been a lot of pain and there has been a lot of risks. However, The rewards have always made the pain worth it. I was on the phone with my oldest brother yesterday. It was a major turning point in my life. The past 2 years all I have heard from him is, “Dude,” (Yes he is still a hippie), “how can you handle this. How can you deal with getting beat up so bad every day. If I was in your position I think I would give up.” My responce to my brother was, “Dude,” (okay I have a little hippie left in me), “It will work out in the end. No matter what happens it will work out.” Yesterday was the day it worked out. What my brother can not grasp is even if it turned out the other way yesterday it still would have worked out. I do not have faith that God is going to give me everything i ask for. I have the faith that God is going to do what is best. That is both my older brothers problems. They were both young they asked God to lead them in the right place. God took something from each of them. Something that they both wanted really bad. Now they didn’t realize that what they lost has been for the best and it is like they are holding a grudge. My youngest brother and I have both learned this at an early age. We have both lost something that was important to us also but we both realize that it was what was best for us. It might not have been best for us at the time but I know it was best for us in the long run. My brother was on the phone with me yesterday. All he could say is, “How do you do it? You need to write a book.”