It's Tuesday, August 26, 2003. I'm a week shy of starting college; I'm 18, and virginal in literally every sense of the word. On this day, I nearly escaped death.
You see, I was "punched in" up at Canterbury (the club I've caddied at since 1998) which basically meant I was 'bagroom bitch' for 5+ sloooow hours. Leonard comes up to me, and is at this time, 12 years old. "Joey, CR?" (translated: Joey, how about a Golf Cart Ride?) so of course I take him on one and let him drive (in retrospect this was a MORONIC decision). We're riding around sharp bends and over cart paths. I'm talking to, funnily enough, the person who I would soon lose my virginity to - when all of a sudden, Leo puts the cart in neutral (or free fall, basically) and we go flying down hill. Only there's a bridge over a small stream ahead and it's fast approaching; Leo turns the wheel and the cart, like a child defying a parent, tilts to the side at almost a 45 degree angle, spins the other direction, and crashes forcefully into the side of the bridge. He's thrown from the cart - I'm still in tact - but we've broken the wooden plank on the bridge and nearly totalled the vehicle. I'm thinking, "if the cart would have been a foot over to the left when it tilted, Leonard would have been impaled.
Why this date?
Every year on the anniversary I think about the accident; right before, during, and right after (as if it were 9/11 or something) and also reflect on how, oddly enough, it really marked the beginning of mine and Leonard's friendship. That simple but slightly traumatic experience began a brotherly kinship between he and I. Just a few weeks back, on the 5th anniversary, I started to think about everything I've learned and experienced over the past 5 years, and how, when I reminisce and mentally return to 8/26/03, I realize my life now is completely different than the life I led then.
For one, I was on the cusp of college, yet to meet my future roomate(s) and future best friends; yet to learn some important truths about humanity and people. Yet to realize the Ohio bubble was about to burst and expose me to an uncensored but truly beautiful world outside; yet to discover that world of beauty could sometimes bring so much pain and anguish. Yet to discover jam!! Yet to create a facebook account or a blog; yet to buy condoms or even take a hit of weed. Yet to really understand the dysfunctional lives' of adults I'd looked up to in the past; yet to meet new people abroad. Yet to "hook up" outside of dating or even have a one night stand. Yet to get a "real" paycheck from a "real job;" yet to buy groceries, pay rent, and "act" like an adult. Yet to live in the boogie down, the BK, or "the city," and yet to understand and appreciate New York for what it truly is. Yet to have a cell phone (god damn! imagine that!); yet to really understand the culture and beliefs of another.
There are too many to list - in short, the last 5 years are worth a lifetime of change and growth - I must go to bed now but one final thought - what will I say in the '8/26/08 - 8/26/13' post!? I'm glad I don't know the answer to that.
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