Today is never easy for me. Reason, today would have been my friend Kevin's birthday. He should be 28. He should be a senior staff member on some state representative's staff. He should be getting really excited about the new James Bond movied coming out next week. Unfortunately, none of that is happening because my friend Kevin died in a car accident six years ago. He was one month shy of 22 and two months away from graduating from college. God. I can't believe it has been six years already.

I can remember that horrible day when I found out just like it was yesterday. It was fall semester my senior year. A Sunday. We had been at a marching band competition in Allentown that afternoon and were just getting back around 9 or 10 that night. I remember stumbling off of the bus at MA and walking back to Seavers, half dead on my feet (we had done another show the night before as well as the game before that). I remember getting close to the apartments and seeing a silver Saturn, thinking "Man, that looks a lot like my dad's car". I remember getting to the apartment and seeing my dad and my godfather, Uncle Barry sitting in the living room. I remember dumping my stuff on the bed and coming back out to talk to them. I was expecting to hear my 94 year old great-grandmother had died. Instead I heard my 21 year old friend, my almost brother was gone. I don't remember much after that. I kind of remember trying to go to class the next day and getting as far as the library before I burst into tears and was walked back home by one of my friends. I don't remember much of the viewing or funeral, just bits and pieces.

Every year I put flowers at Kev's grave. We have a little talk. It may sound weird but I can almost hear him talking back. I still miss him terribley. Especially on this day. It's a little more painful when his birthday falls on election day. We used to argue about politics all of the time, even though we pretty much held the same views, he was an instegater. Kev had a very bright future in politics ahead of him. A very nice job waiting for him once he graduated. Unfortunately, we'll never know how far he could have gone. How much he could have contributed to society.

I miss my friend.