Dan and Me

Dan and Me from Timothy Koide on Vimeo.

Dan rolled up to my parents’ house just like he would have ten years ago—turning recklessly into our driveway in his parents' mini-van blaring music. On the surface it would appear that nothing had changed since high school, but life has run its course with both of us. He enlisted in the Navy and went to Europe for 5 years. I became a missionary for my church and went to Japan for two years. He came home, wandered, and enrolled in school. I came home, finished school, married, and then divorced soon after. He sports a healthy beard now, and I still can’t grow facial hair to save my life. So, I guess some things don’t change. Dan is now writing a book—a memoir of his experiences, which have been rich and plentiful. He has written about seven chapters already. I am now trying to get people to patron a haphazard blog featuring the experiences of others. And, if you are reading this, I am experiencing at least some success.

There was a time when Dan and I thought we were invincible. We drove fast. We spoke loud. We ate a strict diet of trans fats and high fructose corn syrup. It was the 90’s—whatever that means. Like most teenaged boys we were reluctantly and awkwardly obsessed with girls, but that was about all that linked us to ‘normal’ guys our age. All of the other things that we did seemed to brand us more or less as misfits, albeit with a healthy social agenda. We played volleyball—not football, basketball, or baseball. We played in a band, and usually didn’t like the music that other kids listened to. We wore different kinds of clothing, and defensively made fun of others who wore the trends of the day. For this reason, I am glad that we had each other. We were brothers then, and despite distance of time and place, we still maintain that status.