7/1/18
#34: Wish you were here..
In high school, I had a pretty close group of friends. Now five years post graduation, I only make an attempt to keep up with two people from my graduating class. It happens that some I just don’t care for, while others unfortunately live far away (such is life), and if I ran into them, it would be great to catch up. Today I want to talk about my friend Ben. As I have talked about earlier, after I graduated I had a hell of a time. My anxiety was at an all time high, and I would have a panic attack if I left the house. One night I got a text from Ben and Tyler, asking me to go grab some food with them. After explaining I didn’t really leave the house and the rest of my situation, they asked if they could come over and hang out. They both did, and said had they known, they would have visited me sooner. When they came, I was watching professional wrestling. Ben said he hadn’t watched it in years and said it was extremely predictable. The match ended up ending very differently than he had predicted, and he was hooked. A few days later, I got a text from Ben saying he had been watching a bunch of old wrestling matches on YouTube. For a while, he was coming over every Monday night to watch Raw. Then we missed a few Mondays in a row due to him having something going on etc. Meanwhile, I eventually got on the right medication, started leaving the house, and got a job. I was at my job for a little over a year when another worker came up to me and said, “You went to Don Bosco right? Did you know Ben? He’s dead.” Early that morning they had found that Ben hanged himself outside of him and his brothers apartment. I still to this day feel like shit about it. He was there for me in my time of need, and I had no idea he was even dealing with any depression. A few months ago, I went to visit Ben’s mom. I just kind of stopped by and chatted. I told her about how Ben was there for me, and she had no idea. She had remembered him coming over to watch wrestling, but didn’t know I was in the situation I was. Ben was a true friend. I’d known him since I was a kid, but didn’t get close with him until after we graduated. He had the best laugh I have ever heard (yes, better than Seth Rogen's). He used to refer to himself as “daddy” in the third person, which sounds annoying, but it was fucking hilarious.
Everyday I will be posting an entry in my writing challenge 100 Days which has been collected into a print collection. If you are interested in purchasing a print collection: http://www.lulu.com/shop/austin-hamblin/100-days/paperback/product-23916414.html
Kayla and I have also started a weekly podcast. You can check it out here: https://anchor.fm/austin-allen-hamblin It's called In the Bed with Austin and Kayla because we literally record it as we lay in bed!