Jason, Jeff and Dave

I have never in my life had such good friends as Jason, Jeff and Dave. Now that I think about it. I don't think I realised how lucky I was when I knew them. I don't think I saw how truly unusual they were. What boys, when you're seventeen, want to go to the university and sit on the grass and talk about ideas for writing books? What boys, when you're seventeen, sing James Taylor and Don McLean and know all the words and most of what they mean?

Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind.

I asked Dave what that meant. He said he didn't know. He wouldn't.

Jason came from a good family with a Nori and a Jeff and I forget his father.... but they loved him. They came to his plays, they smiled at his friends, they kept their kitchen clean. Dave lived with his father and maybe the father's girlfriend (now that's a spicy pizza!). One of the first things I remember Dave telling me was about his stepfather locking him outside in the winter in his underwear. I thought he was joking at first. Jeff. Jeff went to a private school and wore a jacket and tie in his school picture. I guess they had money. I don't know if they were kind, but I think so. Jeff lived like a rich hippie. VW van, harmonica, nothing but leisure time.

They were good to me. They almost never hurt me. They did what they promised, they always showed up when and where they said they would. They listened when I talked and they thought about who I really was in their plans. I didn't realise how rare they were. I really didn't.

It almost makes me ache inside to think about those years, how good they really were. What beautiful people I knew, what wonderful friends I had. I miss them now.