So here we are again. I find myself unable to sleep. Sigh…. Since I'm in this position, I thought you all might enjoy an other sneak peak into my life. This time I think I'll clue you guys in on a friend of mine. Now, to complete this "core four" of mine, I'll tell you about someone else. It's not just Elektra, Cecilia, and myself. We have a friend, and a darn good and reliable one at that. His name is Robbie Rudolph <insert the hysterical laughter!> (You'll only understand that if you were with me over this last spring break). See, when I met Robbie, I hadn't yet met the girls, and it was just him and I going through our days as best friends.
What makes Robbie and I such good friend, you ask. Well, I would say that it's his personality. At first, when I met Robbie, I didn't really know what to think of him. He had the normal general characteristics of a person, kinda shy, but nice at first. He didn't really seem to have any sort of distinguishing characteristics, or personality quirks. Well, as we became better friends, his library began to grow and grow, showing me new sides to the enigma that is Robbie Rudolph. I started to realize that he was kind of a geek through all the techno he showed me. Then he started to tell me about this great music, superbly sound and stable in the theory field, from video games and the likes. It was amazing.
Now, a few years after we met and became friends, I started to notice that he really began to open up to me; he started showing me the darker side of him, the pain and mistakes that have happened in his life. I still remember the night that he told me the story of this huge falling out he had with his friend. It really helped me get through a rough patch that I was going through in high school. You see, Robbie had this tendency to see the things that made people not compatible with him, which made him come to terms with only having me as a friend. His silent and slightly awkward geekiness soon gave way to this side, and I started to understand that he really had substance. This mask of his gave way to a very potent and intricate web of thoughts, synapses, sparks and brilliancies. His choices of lessons to play for me always seemed to hit home, even when I didn't want them to. I don't know how he did it, but the melodies that he wove for me always seemed to fit in every way possible.
Late one night, we were having a conversation that really made me understand where Robbie was coming from in life. He knew what pain was, he knew sorrow, but he also refused to accept it. There's so much joy mixed in with Robbie's life. It's like he found the high road, refused to be enslaved by his past, and saw the bright silver lining to everyone. That night he asked me this: "Do you remember when we were just kids, and cardboard boxes took us miles from what would miss, schoolyard conversations taken to heart, and laughter took the place of everything we knew were not?"
That question pierced me to the core. It brought back what was and still is important. Robbie showed me that it's not what's gone wrong, or how you've screwed up. What matters, I've discovered with the help of Robbie, is what a person is. Nobody's perfect, and I've come to understand that, and how we treat people really does matter. The one thing that I'm reminded the most by my friend is that nobody is a lost cause, nobody. And not to be sappy, but it's taken me a long time to realize this, and I want people to understand that everyone is worth something. I don't care who they are, but people deserve respect, especially if you have just met them. Now, I'm sorry to preach from my little soapbox, but I think that everyone should hear that.
That's what I pulled out of one of my roughest times thanks to Robbie, among many other things. I would argue though that that was the most important thing I could have learned.
Don't misunderstand, this friendship that I held with Robbie was not solely for the cause of advice and development. We had tons of fun too. Somehow he found a way to make me laugh a lot. His random and spastic song selection always threw me for a loop, especially when a classic song came on. We'd spend the nights just singing away, clubbing away, or whatever else came up. Gosh… this is starting to sound really sappy and cheesy like some romance novel… *ahem* We also went out and shot at the range, played paintball, and threw rocks at people. I don't remember how many times I used Robbie as a mental punching bag, or how many times we just fought each other for fun.
Anyways, that's just a small amount of what all Robbie has put into my life. I would like to let you in on a secret though. Robbie isn't actually a person… I'll leave it up to you to figure out what he is, but I suggest that you find something like him to add to your life. It really helps. Be it a person, a huge array of music, a sports team, a relationship, books, or church. It doesn't matter; all that does is that you have something to help you through your life. I say this kids, because life isn't all butterflies and happiness. I would venture to say that it's butterflies and hurricanes. Peace.
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