This is a collection of every specific story I can recall about John. We didn’t know one another from grade school. We didn’t have tons of classes together, or hang out every weekend. We were casual friends, but he has made an impact on my life that lasts.

John moved here with his sister and joined my class sometime in the last few years of high school. He was always smiling, laughing and easy to get along with. I really only had one class with him, and didn’t see him outside of school often. Just a new kid that was genuinely a nice guy. 

He had a hard to pronounce last name. I would yell it out down the hallway when I would see him going to classes and watch him look around to see who the hell was yelling. 

One day I walked in class early and John was sitting at his desk with a razor blade. He was cutting open one of his cigarettes and pouring the contents on his desk. When he had emptied it out, he pulled out some rolling papers and re-rolled the tobacco into a pretty good looking joint. When it was rolled and pinched shut he started throwing it around the room to different kids. Waving it around having a big time, just generally being a goof. I seriously thought it was the funniest damn thing ever.  When class was dismissed he tossed the fake joint on the ground next to the trashcan and left.

A few days later I walked into class. John is there and he has a joint sitting out on his desk. I grabbed it from his hands and tossed it around the room thinking we were going to have some more fun. His face flushed red, then completely pale white. Panic struck him. He chased it down, cussing me the entire time. When he finally got it back, he shoved it into his pack and collapsed in his seat out of breath. I realized pretty quickly that this one was different, but even he couldn’t help laughing about it a few minutes later.

We were in a truck coming back from the lake late one night. It was a bench seat and I was in the middle and John was next to the passenger window. I remember him asking if we wanted beers, and then he just climbed out the window and onto the toolbox in the back. He climbed into the bed of the truck, got a few beers, handed them into the window and climbed back in. We were morons, the entire lot of us, but he was fearless.

The last memory I have of John from around that time was at a concert. It was AC/DC and they were playing in Shreveport, LA at the Hirsh Memorial Coliseum. 

Between my memories and Google I have determined that it was 1988 and White Lion was the opening act. I had standing tickets with a buddy and John just walked up to us and said, ‘Hey man,’ like it was the most natural thing in the world to see him there 2 years after graduation. About halfway in, he offered to share his smoke, but we declined. It was a good night.

In the mid 90’s. I had gotten married, I had two kids and we were all at Walmart a LOT. I would bump into John and his wife there a lot with their beautiful little girls. Every single time he would ask me how I was doing and ask me about other guys we hung out with while the ladies shopped around. It was great bumping into him and catching up. I don’t recall any specific time, or conversation. I really just thought it would happen forever. 

Time moves on….we get older…life happens…..I hadn’t seen him in a long time. Hadn’t really even thought about him. He was just one of those guys that I shared some memories with and enjoyed talking to. 

The next time I saw him was heartbreaking. 

Walmart again…A classmate is helping this homeless guy up off the ground. Told him to leave his dog and stuff at the door and he would give him a hand. He grabs up a buggy and begins asking him what he needs. ‘Do you have this…’ ‘ Do you need some of these?’

I walked past them and neither one of them noticed or paid attention to me. The old man was missing some teeth. His clothes were ragged and well worn. He was unshaven and definitely could benefit from a shower. It took longer for me to realize that it was John, than I care to admit, but when he spoke I recognized his voice…it was still that same kid from school. 

I talked to him for a bit, but not much. The other person was handling his needs at the moment and I just shook his hand and told him we would catch up another time. 

Since that day I see John off and on throughout the seasons. Sometimes he is 100% coherent, others he seems to have the shakes and is being a bit paranoid. The one thing that is consistent is that he always greets me with a huge ‘Hey Ray!’ and shakes my hand…asks me about my family and how I’m doing. 

He has lived and set up camp by the Wendy’s, in the woods behind Walmart, CVS….He has a different dog now. Never keeps him on a leash, it just follows him around. 

I’m 58 years old. I have issues getting up and down from playing with my grands. I can’t imagine sleeping on a broken down cardboard box night after night. Sometimes I’ll see him in the police beat or busted. I don’t have any idea how he survives, or what happened to put him in that position. 

I see his sister around town sometimes and she speaks. We didn’t hang out. I didn’t know her the way I did him. I’ll give him food, gift cards to local food places, Gatorade, water, Dr. Peppers, some cash, even treats for his dog. I’ve never heard a single person say a bad thing about John. 

I was talking to him about the AC/DC concert recently and he laughed. He had totally forgotten about that night until I reminded him, and he was surprised that I did. Anytime I see him, I make a point to remind him that he is seen, known and remembered.