Tuesday, 6/27/11, 12:00pm - In this graduation season, many seniors will be writing those three words in yearbooks. My advice: Stick to it!
I met twin brothers Brian and Carl Menz in 1986. We went to the small school of about 40-50 people per grade.
We grew closer being young Cub Scouts and playing youth soccer and baseball.
We remained close friends (it helped that we went to the same schools) through junior high and high school.
Then came college. Three different schools. Three different cities. Two different states.
We wrote "K.I.T." in each others' yearbooks. And we kept our word.
Looking back 25 years later, it's been rewarding beyond measure.
We're shared so much together.
The joys: Getting the job we wanted. The weddings. The children. The holidays. Spending time and growing close with one anothers' parents, brothers and sisters. The inside jokes. The pranks we played on each other and laughed about later.
Along with the joys came the times when we needed each other: The loss on the soccer field in our last game as high school athletes. The job uncertainty. The breakups. The loss of another close friend. The pain of watching our parents battle health problems.
But through it all, we kept in touch.
And because of that, we were able to have a great time last weekend. All three of us (once living in New York, Ohio and Oregon) were together in the northeast. We enjoyed a Yankee game. While not all three of us are diehard Yankee fans, we spent a great Sunday in the Bronx. It was as if nothing had changed. After the game, I half-expected us to head back to our childhood homes, a whole half-mile down the road from one another.
I was glad to see the Yankees won. But, if they hadn't I still did. So did Brian. So did Carl.
We won because we kept in touch.
~Jason Dusett, 13WHAM Producer
~jdusett@13wham.com
