This is one of those big days. The days where you want to have someone that you trust with you. We used to paddle out on days like this, and we used to paddle out on days where it was just us because it was so small. I can't recount in my head the days where I would hound him all day long. It would go like this:

"MAG  39 armory, Sgt Brown"

"Dude! are we going surfing after work or what?"

"I don't know dude"

"Come on dude"

"Call me later"

This conversation would repeat itself a few times throughout the day, along with numerous emails. One has to sit and wonder how we got any work done! I always knew that I could count on him though. We would hop in the truck and race to the house and throw the boards in the back and head to the beach. Sometimes it was big and sometimes it was small, but we always had fun. We would paddle out and make fun of each other, we would hoot and holler at each other and we would always look out for each other. There were Sunday mornings that we would get up with the sun and go surf until we had just enough time to go and change to go to church with the boards in the truck and then it was right back to the beach. There were so many mornings that I would show up at his house at dawn on a weekend and drag him out of bed. He usesd to complain but he wasn't the one that had to drive an hour!  It just wasn't really surfing if Mike wasn't out there.

That's what makes it such a great sport. It brings friends together and it sure did that for me and Mike. It bonded us so that when we were both going through some real tough times we knew that we could be there for each other. We could take comfort in the cleansing of the salt water and the rolling waves, and talk if we wanted to or we could paddle out and leave our worries on the beach, either way we had one another to lean on. Thanks dude for all the great early morning sessions and all the times we dragged each other out after work! You are a true friend and I can't wait to get back and spend some more time in the water with you. Ride a ton of waves for me! Aloha!

12:23:39 AM    thoughts  []