My Friend Mike

11th of September 2019

I don't give enough thanks to a friend of mine. We've known each other since high school, and we've been friends since. He's helped me through a lot of tough times, and we've had some great times together. I'm not sure why I'm just now writing this, but hey, I am.

I wasn't all that bright in high school, but Mike forgave me for it. I would learn a lot from him in high school. We had Radio/TV class together, and that's where we got to know each other. I initially wanted to do radio, but I didn't like the people I got stuck with to be on the air. I got off radio and went into the video side of things, which is what Mike was doing. He made some great videos. He would edit music videos using movie clips. I would do that just to get the editing down. It was hard, but Mike wouldn't let me quit. Today, I work as a director at a news station for one of my 3 jobs. He's a big reason for that. He's always made me strive for more. I'm getting ready to do that. I was in a meeting about a special I'm supposed to direct, but there's one thing that stuck in my mind the entire time: Why am I not running this meeting instead of my supervisor? That drive comes from Mike.

It's not just my professional career Mike has helped me with. I just thought of this yesterday after the Social Distortion/Flogging Molly concert, but he kept me from getting arrested. I called him late a night from Perkins because if I didn't get a ride home, I was going to jail. I called Mike, and he picked me up.

Another time, he drove my no-good carcus around town trying to get my car back (I eventually got it back). Many times I can tell you about how he's helped me.

On my way back from Ames, I was thinking about the time he helped me when my tire blew out on the Interstate. I called a police officer friend, and all he said was "what do you want me to do?" I then called Mike, and he and other friends came and helped me. It was cold out, and it just plain sucked. I got the tire off, but the spare was flat (for those that don't know, a tire was kept in the trunk in cases like this. This tire was called the spare). A good samaritan stopped before Mike got there and took it to get it filled. A state trooper stopped and helped, but Mike was the one who put the tire on for me since I was freezing.

When I died and lived to tell about it, Mike asked me if I needed a ride anywhere. It happened that I needed to go to an appointment on the other side of town. He did it without hesitation and even took me to get groceries.

Mike has always done things without any thought. If there was any thought, it was of ways to make it possible. I write this because it's the only way I can really give him my thanks. To quote a popular line: Thank you for being a friend.