Seriously, guys:
In the summer of 2004, I worked with a guy named Will. One
of Will’s favorite things to say at staff meeting before or after he would give
us information about music was, “Seriously, guys…” so we all started saying,
“You guys, Will is serious this time” and he would get irate (I’m talking
seeing red)…so naturally we continued doing it… all the time. For the rest of
the entire summer. Like it was our only job.
Will and the golf
cart:
The thing about Will was he was soooooo easy to read and you
could push his buttons so easily; it just became cheap entertainment while
living at a summer camp. The second thing that burned him up (after commenting
on his seriousness) was messing with the golf cart. Will loved the golf cart
almost as much as he loved his guitar. If you messed with the golf cart, or if
you took the golf cart… or if you hid the golf cart from him (ahem), he usually
stormed around in his flip flops muttering things under his breath until you
gave him hints about where to find it… but only after he’d say, “I’m serious,
Jackie.”
Did I mention that our summer camp was completely walk-able
and no one needs a golf cart?
Neat freak:
Maybe you didn’t know this about my friend Will, but he was
a neat freak. I’m talking about making his bed with hospital corners, color
coordinating his closet, and lining up all of his shoes, neat freak.
One of my favorite memories of the neat freak coming out was
in college. Will was having a party and it lasted late into the night. At about
two o’clock in the morning, I realized I hadn’t seen him in about an hour, so I
went looking around. I found Will in his garage bleaching the floor. “What? It
was messy.”
This was the same party where I discovered a Crayola pillow
that Will stashed under all of his pillows that no one was allowed to see
because he had it since childhood. But if you moved the crayon or if you found
the crayon, he would get bright red and snag it from you as fast as he could.
“Jackie, stop moving the crayon…Seriously.”
But these are the funny things about Will. And the best part
was that he never tried to be funny. What I loved about Will was that he knew
that when we teased him, he was never the butt of the joke; he knew that we
loved him.
The helper:
You never know when you are going to need an Eagle Scout.
Will would recite the pledge (or whatever you call it) if I begged, but usually
he refused.
When I moved to College Station, I would see Will from time
to time. We’d run into each other at Northgate or outside a football game. One
day I was going to leave campus and I realized I had a flat tire. I had no idea
who to call at first, but eventually I just broke down and called Will. I think
I might have even been crying because it was during finals.
Will didn’t really react well to my waterworks over the
phone, but when he showed up, he gave me a hug and fixed my tire. He called the next day to make sure it was working fine and went with me to the shop to make sure that no one messed with me. And that was
it. I don’t even know how long I went before we talked again, but that was just
the friendship we had. I could call Will for anything and he would help me. It
was in Will’s nature to do for others and never ask for anything in return.
I remember that Will and our friend Nathan built a dock the
summer we were at camp together. They gave up rest periods to go down to the
river, they worked on their breaks, and they never complained. Will killed
every bug I asked him to, he would help me clean the arts and crafts cabin
until early into the morning, and he would play the guitar until his fingers
bled if we begged him to keep playing.
Remembering Will:
I didn’t keep in close touch with Will after college. The
last time I talked to him I had just met his dad in the valley. He called Will
in front of me and said, “There’s this blonde in front of me that says she
knows you. I told her that she better
know you.” He and I had a good laugh about that.
I guess the point is that regardless of how often I saw
Will, he was a constant, as so many old, real friends are. I could rely on Will
and many of us felt the same way. He had a way of making you feel like things
were going to be OK, even if you were stressed or tired, his motto was “Well,
we’re just going to do it. Don’t worry.”
And seriously, guys, I never do.
