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“It Should Have Been Me.”
About seven years ago, I went to an Octoberfest party with some of my friends at an apartment complex on the edge of downtown Fort Worth. I got decently drunk and took an Uber home. When I got home, I got some chicken tenders from a place near me, walked into my apartment, watched the end of a baseball game and nibbled on said tenders, and passed out. When I woke up, about seven hours later, I had word that one of my best friends from college had passed away overnight.
Post-college male relationships are weird. If you end up near each other physically, or in similar industries, or with kids the same age, or with wives who know each other/are friends, you can keep it going for 20+ years pretty strong. If not, it’s hard. I’ve been out of college about 21 years now. (Wow.) I’ve had periods of 8–12 strong friends from then, and I’ve had periods of 1–2. Nowadays it’s closer to the lower side. Some of that I’m sure is on me; some is on how life plays out for people with proximity and kids and work and other commitments.
