Friends in Small Places
So I was thinking about a few things tonight about my past and how it's lead to where I am now and where it might lead me in the future. There is a line at the end of the movie Stand By Me that I never noticed the first few times I watched it. When I was older, I saw the movie again on HBO during one of their "Movie Repeat" marathons (why do we pay for those old movies again)? Anyways, the line was when Gordy was older and he was watching his kids play in the yard and he read about his friend Chris (River Pheonix), being killed...he narrated that "you never will have friends like the ones you had when you were 12 years old. ". I have to admit that it hit home with me big time. If you don't like sappy stories, then stop reading here!
I can't agree with that statement more. I have been very privledged in my life to be surrounded by some pretty awesome friends. I met most of my close friends when I was real young. Those kind of friends have a way deeper bond in my oppinion. When you are young, you are friends with kids that have the same passion and interests as you...that's what it is all about....it's not the same kind of friends that you just go out to bars with or friends that you work with and you only relate to them because they have the same boring job as you.
I have spent a lot of time with my friends, we grew up together and it seems that it all started with Skateboarding and listening to Music.....hanging out and trying out life like you would try on shoes, see what fits best. Rolling with the punches and having a blast along the way.....
I hope a lot of people have had the same experiences with their childhood friends growing up. When you get older a lot changes, most people lose touch with their friends from their youth and probably spend more time listening to the lady next to them at the office talk more about her life than you care to know....and that might be all the "friendship" you get. Well I am stoked that I still keep in contact with all my childhood friends and it is both cool and depressing to see how everyone has grown up...we are old now!
I never would have thought in a million years that two of my best friends and I would come together and form Old Skull Skateboards after all these years. Working together with these guys has been a full circle experience for me. We are working on something that we truly believe in...something that we all grew up doing...we are doing what I always dreamed that I would do...do something I loved and turn it into a business. One day at the Skateshop is more fullfilling than all those years I spent working in some institution of paperwork and complete corporate bullshit...And I get to be there with my friends, solving problems, being creative, wishing we were more creative, seeing kids totally stoked on Skateboarding like we were, laughing at ourselves and taking eachother seriously all at the same time. It's funny because running a skateshop with complete strangers just wouldn't compare. I really believe that you have to find things in your life that give you that burn, that fulfilment.....whether it's Skateboarding, Music or anything you want.....Stay close to the friends who know you best....don't let growing up drag you down and you might just wake up one day doing something that was only a pipedream years back. You never do quite have friends like the ones you had when you were young........
Steve @ Old Skull Skateboards
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