When I was younger...

        

Found this at a Salvation Army store in Illinois a long time ago, love me some Depeche Mode.

Back when I was younger, after I'd been skating maybe 2 years or so, I met all the friends that I would really consider true friends, even now, 20 years later. Out of all the people I went to school with, socialized with, and grew up around, most of the ones I still talk to, or at least make an effort to hang out with are those that I met through skateboarding. Not many of them still pick up a board, and like me, most of the ones that do have to find time between work, family, and all the other trappings of adulthood to go out and skate. However there are a few guys who I spent countless days and nights with, skating, trying to find new spots, or making trips to St. Louis to skate, that aren't around anymore. 

Warren

This is me and my friend Mike. We skated together everyday possible, for years. Still a homie, I can't believe I ever looked like this.

One of my bands with Warren.

Me and my friend Chris. He lives in Texas now, miss him terribly, but he has a beautiful family and we keep in touch.

 Warren and I met at my next door neighbors house. I'm not sure what he was doing there, but he had left a dubbed copy of Minor Threat's "out of step" there a few weeks earlier. My neighbor, Alex, didn't like them, so me being a little punk rock kid snatched that thing without thinking twice. A few weeks later Warren showed up wanting it back. He physically attacked me when I told him I had it. After he jumped on my back, and being about half my size, was thrown easily to the ground and told to chill the fuck out, that I'd just go next door and grab it for him. Warren calmed down, we got to talking, and realized we had shit in common. Warren was a couple of years older than me, I think I was about 13 at the time, he might have been 15. At any rate, we soon skated together, and both of us played guitar, so we started our first band together with another friend of ours named Chris. Warren later got married, had a son, got divorced, then a few years down the line Warren took his own life. He was a complicated guy, and had tried to commit suicide many times throughout our friendship. I'm mad as hell that he finally did it, but I loved him, and I miss him. When I think about him now, I like to remember all the times we went skating together, when we were kids, and our biggest problems were getting kicked out of places for skating and trying to find girlfriends. 

I was about 15 here, I loved those high top vans, still do, but I'm not so sure about that paisley shirt.

All the people in my life with the exception of a handful of friends I've met through playing music, a few other friends, and my wife, that really mean shit to me, that I'll forever carry a place for in my heart, that I'd give help to any time, for any reason, are people I've met through skating. I miss the simple days, when 5 bucks was enough to throw in on a 12 pack, and skating was the priority. I miss my friends, Warren, Joey, Adam, Heather, and even Tim. You guys still live in my head sometimes, and I hope you're in a better place. 

This is Michael, he would come down south from another shitty town about half an hour away to skate with us po-dunk fuckers every once in a while. Those dudes always blew my mind.

This is Tony, his little brother Adam never really skated, but we all loved the kid, he was at all the first shows my band put on, going off, loving that shit, and we loved him back. He was our fan, our friend, our mascot. Adam took his own life after joining the military , I think he joined to escape the shithole we lived in, and a difficult home life. Tony, last time I saw him, seemed to be doing well for himself, some people do get out of here.

This is Paul. He was one of the most fluid and natural skateboarders I've ever witnessed in real life. His theory was push fast, go faster, and then, go faster. Any time I had trouble pulling a trick, Paul's advice was always, "go faster." He always kept to himself, but somehow was nice enough to put up with my annoying 13 year old ass. Everything was a mission with Paul, late night skating, hitting the parking garages in downtown St. Louis, and how to live on the cheap. Paul taught me what it meant to be a skateboarder. I hear he still skates, but I haven't seen him in years.