“Stay far from timid
Only make moves when ya heart’s in it
And live the phrase Sky’s The Limit”
-Notorious B.I.G. on “Sky’s the Limit”
December 30th 2009, I remember this date for a couple of reasons.
(1) It was a Wednesday and my one time friend C.J. and I would always try to hang out on Wednesday and we knew we had to end the year on a bang.
(2) I have a vivid image in my head of myself raking leaves and texting my good friend Rick while he was work asking if I was going to the famous “Dave and Buster’s” here in the Bay Area.
and #3
We had a small reunion of “Big Red Machine” employees (current and former) at Dave Buster’s, which believe it or not probably was just about timing.
I remember on this one time adventure, my buddy C.J., was out with foot tendinitis and he wasn’t in the best of conditions to move around so I was sympathetic to his cause. I remember a little after myself and Rick were texting each other, I felt the wanting of getting us three back together to hanging out once again. I enjoyed the company of both of them and I especially wanted Rick there because he was and is an all around great friend. So, as I’m sitting at home anticipating reading about the wrestling rumors, I get a text from Rick asking if we were doing anything later that night and I replied that we were thinking of hitting up Dave and Buster’s. I went outside sometime afterward and started raking leaves. It was a little chilly but I got through it by being warmed up with a heavy sweater and a beanie. I remember waiting for my friend Rick to text me back about what the plan was and I was excited because the year had been so up and down in terms of work, school, and life. He told me that he was off at seven and I told him we could do him the favor (meaning myself and C.J.) of picking him up from work. He worked at a local mall and C.J. lived really close to the mall so it was really convenient for everybody. I waited anxiously to see if C.J. would come through and join us as well and low and behold he called me at about 5 P.M. that day and I told him that Rick was “free” and “back”. I sounded gitty and excited from what my voice was saying over the telephone, yet I knew that I was justified in what I was saying. These two got to know me and I got to know them which felt better than ever because each stage of my life I have found that I find new friends that I can share things with. Some I have kept, others I don’t ever hear from again for various reasons. As I went to pick up my mom, I got a call from Rick and he to was waiting for what was to come so I told him what was going on. I waited till seven so that we can all go together but Rick let me know just as I was getting closer to C.J.’s house that he was going to stay to work for another hour or so and he would meet us there at Dave and Buster’s. I felt a bit disappointed but I felt that as long as he went everything would be cool. I picked up C.J. and I told him the sort of shocking news but on the way there we just discussed football, which at that point in time took up a majority of our conversations. I was excited that my year was coming to this sort of end and it was almost like it was meant to be as I was trying to look my best with a green sweater and Lee jeans. We went around playing monopoly, the fishing game, and a few arcades till rick got there. I waited till he got there and I was a little anxious as he was nowhere to be seen for close to an hour. I finally spotted him passing by with his girlfriend. I didn’t think that he would be coming with her but I didn’t mind that he did so because he was trying to provide a comfortable setting for himself. I started chatting with him a bit but it felt out of place because it was so loud with so many people there just chatting away about nothing. He and I always used to have a running gag whereby one of us or both of us would tell each other that we needed to talk, which depending on the circumstances, would be serious or not serious. He told me that he needed to talk and I didn’t take him that serious yet I understood if he really did want to talk. We went around a little bit passing by all the games and then all of a sudden we saw one of our co-workers drunk which surprised me because she didn’t seem like the type to drink. She gave Rick’s girlfriend a hug because they are good friends and I thought to myself who in the world is that at first. I then saw that it was her and I was shocked. She asked us if I still worked at night and I remember she was talking about she had to work at 6 the next day and I thought in my head a bit after wards that I couldn’t imagined how she can go into work after a night like this. I also remember my friend Rick remarking that this is like a “Big Red Machine reunion” which made me chuckle because it really was but it was strange because it took place on one of the last days of the year and we all seemed like smart, ambitious college students. I knew each of us were really smart and we had so much more to offer the world. I knew that Rick, myself, and C.J. were smart and I knew that Rick’s girlfriend and her friend were in school excelling at high levels. We said our goodbyes that night and myself and C.J. went to grab some In-N-Out Burger which was nearby and we just gossiped like a bunch of women about football and the crazy night. I was happy that we got to experience hanging out one last time for the year was close to ending. My heart was into it that night and I wasn’t shy about getting the “big 3” back together again and I felt like we each had a lot to offer the world. We had a mixture of experience, sociology, history, philosophy, psychology, politics, and we were still learning. I think to myself, and I see how much things have changed and I’m glad I got to do that at that time. I have no regrets and I see that the “Sky is the Limit:. We’ve all grown immensely this year and some have gone onto future endeavors but that is there personal decision, Life changes and people change, some for the better some for the worse:
I’ll be back with another commentary for the last post of the year but until then here’s something I discovered last night:
Just Another Day... 