It’s cool how friendships are
developed aren’t they? Think about this: Your close friends that you have, at
one point, were complete strangers to you! Whether you met a year ago, or have
known each other since grade school, friendships take time to build. Great
friendships to me are ones that are honest, sincere, and encouraging. I am so
grateful for the friendships that I have with so many of you. Believe me when I
say that. Friendships have had a huge and positive impact on my life. More
importantly, friendships are important to everyone!
My friendship with Justin Cole is one
in particular that I would like to take a second to write about today. Why
people wait until funerals to share about what a person has meant to them I do
not know, but I’m a firm believer in giving credit and praise where it is due. One
look at Justin and I, and one would wonder how we are friends. Justin and I are
nothing alike. He’s white, I’m mixed. He’s a country boy, and I’m a city kid.
He’s reserved and analytical, and I’m outgoing and spontaneous. We don’t always
agree on everything, but we respect each other’s opinion immensely. We are the closest
of friends, and he has been there thru thick and thin for me. It made me
realize how important it is, and how rare it is to have a true friendship. As
Proverbs 27:17 states ”As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens the
countenance of another.” I believe this is an exact example of my friendship with Justin. We talk or text almost daily, encouraging each other,
bouncing ideas and opinions off each other. This is just a little highlight reel of my
friendship with my good friend Justin. Included are attempted bits of humor.
Wary of being associated with the wrong type of Marine, I watched Cole like a hawk that drill. He had been there one month longer than I, so I stuck around him since he seemed to know what he was doing. He didn’t get yelled at, didn’t say much to anybody, but went about and conducted his business as if he had been there a year. Being that we were the only two PFC’s in our platoon, we got stuck doing everything together. EVERYTHING. Mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, 2 AM fire watches and working parties. Yet I never heard him once complain….ever. And that’s how we became friends.
#1-
Get a friend that doesn’t complain, and pulls their own weight.
Nov 8. 2009- Marine Corps Ball. I
couldn’t wait to tell Justin the news…I knew it would just eat him up. “Hey
Cole,” I greeted him. “So, I just got a
suite.” I paused then delivered my casual shot. “What did you get again?”
Justin looked down at my receipt, then back up at my grinning face. He then
calmly took my receipt, dialed the number, and requested his own suite. He then
hung up the phone and turned around, “I’m sorry what did you say?”
May 2010-It was about 3:35 Am In
the morning and I was tired beyond words. I walked over to Justin. “Wanna
take your break right now?” He couldn’t have agreed more, his eyelids heavy. We
walked over to the break room and sat down. “Bro,” I said, “Earlier when we
were out there unloading the crates, I fell asleep standing up. I never even
knew that was possible.” Justin and I decided to take jobs working 3rd
shift at Meijer for $7.55 an hour in addition to the already 40 plus hours we
were working at our other full time jobs. We were working 80 to 90 hours a week.
Justin shook his head. “I know I fell asleep with my car in park, keys in the
ignition, and engine running…” I stopped. “Seriously Cole?”
“Yah…”
#3. Get a friend who wants to
succeed in life as bad as you do….
Aug 20. 2010- @ 0200- I was shook
awake. “Hey Mehari, you have fire watch” a voice said, then disappeared.” We
were on week 1 of training in the cold mountains of California. While it was
perfect weather in the day ( tramping around in 75 degree weather, with snow on
the ground) the nights were unforgiving. Without the sun, the temps dipped into
the teens, and snow fell. The wind blew all night, offering no relief. To make
matters worse we had no natural barriers to offer us protection from the
elements. I shook myself out of my warm sleeping bag, gasping as the cold wind
whipped thru my cammies. It was COLD. I reached for my rifle, grabbing its
frozen barrel and walked to my pack for water. No luck, the water had froze
inside my canteen. I had an hour of walking around until I was relieved. I went
to go find the other fire watch who was stamping his feet to stay warm. Whoever
it was, we would suffer together at least. “Hey brotha, welcome, quite the
night eh?.” It was Cole.
April 16, 2011. 4:27 AM. “Dan grab
the pen, if he makes a move, stab him.” In
a cost saving move on a road trip to New York City, we spurned sleeping in a
hotel, opting instead for the comfy leather seats of our Buick Lacrosse luxury
rental car. We drove around New York/Jersey until I found a huge, abandoned
parking lot where we could agreed would be suitable to sleep. With both of us
being wary of he neighborhood, I picked a spot in the very back corner of the parking
lot, underneath a huge willow tree. I
backed into it, knowing that we could see anything coming up on us. We leaned
our seats fully back, and closed our eyes. Resting, but not sleeping. A few hours
later, lights splashed acrossed the windshield. I raised up on my elbows,
wondered if it was cops checking our suspicious vehicle tucked far away and
hidden in the lot. Instead a sketch 15 passenger van and a ford explorer approached
our car slowly, unaware of us and our seats all the way back. “Cole are you
seeing this?” I whispered. “Yeah man.” I glanced at the clock. They were 5o
yards and closing. “You got a knife on you?”
“It’s in my bag… in the trunk.”
“That’s not very helpful.”
We began silently searching for
weapons in the car. All we had were pens. By this point the cars had crept up
on us, and boxed us in. The 15 passenger van on my left, and the Ford Explorer
directly in front of us, and the tree and fence behind and to our right. Cole
and I were so low that the people inside hadn’t even seen us. “Dan, grab the
pen, if he makes a move stab him.” The guy in the van got out. I hit the
automatic window button, and popped up. “Excuse me can I help you?” The guy
recoiled as if he had been hit with a shotgun blast. “No! Uh! Sorry dude, we saw
this car here and thought it would be ok to check it. “So you boxed us in?” Out
of the corner of my eye, I saw Justin uncapping his pen. The guy continued to
stammer“Uh, no dude, sorry, uhh….” He quickly turned and retreated back into
his vehicle and both vehicles took off. They say friends don’t let friends go
to jail. They are right there beside them in the next cell over. Would have
been true had the guy continued….
#5 Get a friend who is willing to
save money by sleeping in a car, and then even more willing to throw down at
4:30 in the morning…
August, 2012- Justin’s wedding
day. Do I even need to explain this one?
It was awesome. Justin and Courtney. Awesomer. Reception? Probably one of the
best nights of my life. There is nothing better than being surrounded by
friends and family in celebration. I can stake pride in the fact I’m an
honorary Cole family member.
#6. Get a friend where you are also
friends with the spouse. It’s a win-win. Everyone is happy.
#7 Get a friend who isn’t afraid to
be true to themselves.
Isn’t it awesome how friends
encourage each other? I’m truly thankful for a friend like Justin. He has been
a solid , reliable and a true friend. There aren't very many people in this world that I would trust with my life, but Justin is without a doubt one of them. I could go on
with more stories of our friendship, but thats an ongoing story! It however, wouldn't suprise me if at ages of 70, we were two old men in rocking chairs shooting shotguns off the back porch.
#8 Never underestimate the value of a true friend.
#8 Never underestimate the value of a true friend.
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