The loss of a friend.
I had an entirely different entry in mind, but with news I found out the other day, do to Facebook Email being stupid, I had to change the entry.
Robert's obituary.
Ages ago, I had this friend, he went by Julio, but I refused to call him this once I figured out his name was Robert. I met him at Zuey's, and I thought he was pretty cool. We'd talk books a lot, and would sometimes get drunk together. Because of this, I will think of him whenever I hear the word "tack." Reason why? For whatever reason we'd both read Desperation by Stephen King, and we found "Candy Latch, Tack," amusing. I have no idea why this was, this was just the nature of the friendship. I'd walk in to Zuey's, or Eldo's, or wherever we were, and be like, "Candy Latch," he'd say. "Tack!" Sometimes it'd be the other way around.
Then there's the whole Shaba deal. Robert would always say either, "bite a dick," "Lick nuts," or "Who ya wit," followed by Shaba. I took on this myself, and irritated many-a people with it, especially my father. It was just funny. The way he'd say, "Bite a dick," though, was all fast, and you'd have to know what he was saying to find it funny.
Moving along. Times got shitty, and Dad and I needed a place to live. Robert graciously informed Dad that we could indeed stay at his apartment for awhile. This ended up lasting about 6 months. I remember his brother Wags telling Robert that he had to re-arrange the apartment so that I'd be able to make my way around it. Before we were there, it was a total bachelor pad. I'll always remember the couch being right near that wall, so I'd trail it to the hallway.
This is where I learned and how Dad took over the recipe of house burgers. Meat Loaf in a hamburger. Anyone that's had one of them knows they're the most awesome hamburgers ever. I liked Robert's a bit better than I like Dad's for the simple fact that Robert was a fan of mushrooms where Dad isn't. Robert also introduced me to roasted pumpkin seeds, and beat pickled eggs. For my 24th birthday when I was celebrating at Zuey's, Robert put down a jar of the pickled eggs all for me. I've not had them since, and this kind of makes me sad, since Robert made the best pickled eggs ever. I wish I'd have kept that jar.
Robert and I had a lot of fun. We'd go to the library together and get books, some of which he'd randomly bring back for me, because that was one of the things we had in common. Harry Potter, and the Goblet of Fire was one of them actually, so now I can't read that book without thinking about him. He'd also gotten me to read "From the Corner of his Eye" and "False Memory" by Koontz.
We also had lots of fun drinking together. He introduced me to the drink called a Grasshopper, which I forgot how to make, and Sambucca which I learned I hate, but it still makes me think of him, even if someone says it. I also learned about 0drunk30 from him, as well as Rumplmintz, which he called "Drunklemintz." I can't forget about the one night we went out drinking, and we ran across high street illegally, and didn't even get hit by a car. :) Whenever he'd meet someone that I knew, he'd always tell the story of my 22nd birthday. We remembered it differently, but it was all good. Oh, that hangover did suck! ;)
While we lived with him, this is when the nick name "Gina, the devil, *insert my last name," came about. I don't remember how it got started, but one night I was singing karaoke at Zuey's, (Unforgiven to be exact), and Robert was all, "Gina, *insert last name* the devil." I almost laughed during the song. No matter how drunk he was though, he always made sure I made it home safely.
He'd also been there for a few very important things for me. The most important thing being me bringing Wendell home from Jersey. Both he and Dad were there at the airport, and I was so happy about this. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to have been there, based on the people I was hanging out with at that particular time. He gave her the nickname Bosco, but I think he might have called all dogs that.
I can't listen to the band Morphine without thinking about Robert. Specifically the "Like Swimming" album. "I Know you, Part III" will always make me think of him, as will French Fries with Pepper. He'd asked me if I'd ever had that particular food, since it was a Morphine song, and I'd honestly said I hadn't. He made it for the two of us once, and while I'm not sure how well I liked the pepper aspect that Morphone song will make me think of Robert. Same with ham, mustard, and black pepper (normal table pepper), sandwiches. I made many of those while we lived with him. He made the first one though so I could know exactly what they'd taste like. Once he'd gotten a super huge 5 gallon jar of dill pickles, and eating them was quite amusing. I never knew those jars existed till I met him. He might have later used that jar for a batch of pickled eggs, but I could be remembering wrong.
Every time I'd see Robert after we'd moved out, I'd ask him what books he was reading, and we'd just catch up on life. He'd informed me at one point that I was like the little sister he never had. This was why I was fine with him calling me The Devil.
The few friends that I'd introduced him to liked him as well. I recall once, Melang had come to visit me, and Robert didn't know that Melang was blind. He'd finished taking a shower, and ran from the bathroom to the bedroom I think, and he worried about her seeing him.
Robert would have done anything for anyone, even though he came across as sort of a hard ass. He's someone I'm always going to love like a brother, and who I will miss dearly. I just wish that I'd have kept in better touch with him after he'd moved back home. He will be missed terribly by all who knew and loved him.