On Thursday I had to say goodbye to one of my childhood friends. It’s was hard for me but I got through it.  Over the weekend I lost someone I’ve known since I’ve known myself. Last Saturday my childhood friend died in a car crash… Let me start from the beginning.

From first through eighth grade I went to catholic school. Eddie and I met in the first grade the very first day of school. We were both missing teeth and loved to learn. I remember he spoke to me for the first time and to myself I thought “who is this funny looking kid speaking to me?” Not once did I think over the years did I think we would build the friendship we did. I remember in 6^th grade we had to sit every boy to a girl. I got stuck with Eddie. The first thing I told him was “don’t bother me”. Of course he didn’t take me seriously and every chance he got he would bother me. Whether it was to ask me for a pencil or to compare his answers with mine, he always found a way to speak to me.

We would have a blast in class. I could always count on him to make me laugh or smile. Anytime I had a rough day he would make it his job to make me smile before the day was over. Eddie had a way of making anyone laugh with his bubbly personality. He would always make sure you were ok and if you weren’t he would always lend a listening ear. You could definitely count on him to make things better for me. He had a way of bringing out another side of me that others didn’t really see.

Eddie was a great friend to anyone he knew. He would be there for you no matter what. When we were younger I used to be really clumsy. I would trip over my own feet. When we were younger we would have to do the buddy system especially when we were sent to the nurse’s office. I walked one of our other friends to the nurse and I was walking back up the stairs and I tripped and hurt myself. I don’t even know where Eddie came from but he saw the entire thing and helped me the rest of the way up the stairs.

I had to laugh and ask him how he knew where I was. He simply told me he just had a feeling. It was the little things like that which made me happy to call him my friend.  He was so caring and that made me happy to have known him. Our school was pretty small so everyone knew each other. Eddie was always the life of our school. He would make anyone feel better about themselves.

Eddie was attending Buffalo State and he was a Criminal Justice major. The funny thing is he always knew how to talk his way out of trouble when we were younger. He would always come up with a way to make sure he had a reason as to why he was doing whatever it was he was doing. There were times when I was sure he would get screamed at by one of our teachers and he always proved me wrong.

Thursday after I left class I went to his wake. It was so hard seeing him like that. I sat in the back and tried to get my thoughts together. It wasn’t going well at all. I saw his mother standing in the doorway so I went over to speak to her. It was so hard seeing her like that. She hugged me tightly and we talked about all of the fun times Eddie and I had together. It came time for me to go up to see him one last time. I thought I could be strong and do it but I was wrong. I had to sit back down. I tried to be strong but it was too hard to do. I didn’t even make it to the casket because I starting crying so much.  I really tried to get myself up and go see him but I couldn’t. His mother walked back over to me and just hugged me. She told me she knew it was hard and to take my time.

I finally got the courage and said my final goodbye to my friend. I told him I loved him and kissed him on the cheek. I breathed a sigh of relief, said goodbye to his family, and walked outside.

Seeing my friend like that made me realize life is way too short and to live like every day is your last. As long as he watches over me I know I should be ok.