my friend jon

Monday, August 17, 2009


"hey kid, what it is?" was the intro to every letter i ever got from jon when he was in iraq. and all of them ended with "I love you, yo". I dubbed him jon-e-boy sometime back in high school and he called me beep. or spaz. or giraffe neck. or gummy. he also taught alley (a toddler at the time) to call me those names too. he was one of my best friends from the moment that little freshman kid came up to me begging for a ride home from school all the time. he had my back and always had the best intentions when it came to me. i appreciate him for helping me steer my life back on track the summer after i graduated high school. i think if it hadn't been for jon getting me more grounded than i had ever been in my life, i wouldn't be where i am today. when i became friends with jon, i gained three more best friends: josh, dusty, and jeremy. the four of us spent the entire summer together and had so much fun (well josh didn't get to have much fun because he had a job...boo!) And they were the only people I was allowed to hang out with, since I was grounded. They would bleach their hair white and play basketball CONSTANTLY! One day that summer, we decided to go ride gocarts. But for some reason I wore a dress that day and I didn't have any clothes to change into. So Josh let me borrow a pair of his basketball shorts and then Jon found one of his 10 year old little brother's t-shirts for me to wear. I was left wearing my clogs and a fantastic get-up. We had a blast! They certainly didn't care that I looked like a complete idiot! Over the years, we went to church camp together, ski trips, they came and visited me at college in kansas a few times. Jon broke my papasan chair and then we went on a "vision quest". Sorry, you had to be there! Then came the army. Had it not been for Jon, I don't think Josh and I would've ever gotten married, or even started dating. I owe Jon so much. One of my favorite memories, which probably isn't the best thing we ever did, but whatever! Jon was home for R&R in December 2003 and I was having a hard time with Josh being in Iraq and not getting to come home for R&R that year. So Jon kept me company the two weeks he was home. Well, one night we decided to go to Kroger and get some beer. Well, instead of buying the beer, we stole it right out of the refrigerated beer section and walked it back to the employees restroom and drank it. We drank beer and smoked cigarettes most of the night back there. I don't know how we didn't get caught. Luckily, no employees had to pee between the hours of 11pm and 1am. Jeremy eventually came and hung out with us too. We also got tattoos when he was home on leave. I'm so glad that forever, I will have a memory of Jon no matter where I go. I can't seem to remember what his tattoo was supposed to mean. I mean, it's not like I can get it translated. We did pick out chinese symbols for tattoos from a skanky tattoo parlor!! I'm sure they were less than accurate :) I have so many funny stories of Jon. He was brutally honest with me and was quick to tell me I was being an idiot and overreacting. I am so mad at myself for letting the last three years of Jon's life go by without being a part of it. It just goes to show that life is so short. It's too short to hold onto to hurt feelings and pride. I'm so grateful that we were able to spend time with you in June and make up for lost time. God put us there for a reason and that reason was you. I love you, yo. You will forever be one of the best friends I ever knew.





beep