Between Friends
I think that it is safe to call a person a friend when you spend practically all week literally side by side at work with a person and you still want to hang out with them on the weekend.
I remember that Matt and I spent many, many a weekend together playing video games. It was not uncommon to spend a Saturday with Matt at his house, Brandon’s house, Renee’s house, or whoever’s house playing video games and goofing off for a large chunk of the day. Matt and his roommates were part of an ever so small group of people that would still regularly play Halo with me, despite the fact that I was, and probably still am, really, really bad at it.
The game days were something that we looked forward to doing, and there were even taunts like this one sent to me by Matt before a weekend of DOA to celebrate my birthday:
Matt was also the one that got me into World of Warcraft (WoW). I resisted for a very long time as more and more people at work joined the ranks of those who played.
In the end, I started playing as just another way to hang out with friends, even when they were not around. So, at many times during the week or weekend, we would spend time playing that, too. It was one way that I could still “hang out” with people even after I moved back to Michigan. We even made events out of playing WoW sometimes like in this instance for Andi’s birthday party, where Matt is gearing up for our WoW celebration.
Even when we were not actually playing together, pictures and notes were exchanged to share the moments in between. Here is an in-game picture that Matt sent me of his character Lugurak encountering one of WoW‘s references to popular culture:
The phrase “There are four lights!” mentioned in this photo is a direct reference to the “Chain of Command” episode of Start Trek: The Next Generation of which Matt and I were fans as well. The same episode is briefly referenced in the Picard Song, which happened to be my ringtone for Matt because of the sheer amusement we both got from it when playing it in the back of house.
The Picard Song
When thinking back on this, it all seems kind of small, trivial, and maybe even juvenile, but is it not the small stuff that matters in life. It is the stuff that you always remember, especially when you cannot do the little stuff with a person anymore. The small stuff is what makes you know and love a person. Tons of little stuff like this were part of the reasons why I loved Matt. I guess what I am trying to say is that I miss those times, and they seem that much more meaningful and precious now that he is gone. Always missing you. Happy Birthday, Friend.
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