Two Friends and a Leather Jacket

I have two friends of mine who are very dear to me and whom I have known since junior high school; Don and Jason. When we were seniors in high school the three of us decided to go to Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids to buy new leather jackets. Jason and I bought a brown leather bomber jacket and Don bought a black motorcycle jacket. They were a hundred bucks a piece and we spent nearly all our money on them.

Rather than simply being satisfied with our purchase we decided to show them off and celebrate how cool we looked in our new jackets. So we hopped in my old Honda Prelude and drove 3 hours to Chicago on a total whim. It was exhilarating being on the open road with two of my closest friends and ready to hit the town. Unfortunately, as soon as we hit Wacker Street in Chicago my car died. The alternator belt went out and we were stuck in Chicago with very little money and no way to get back home.

We decided to call my Mom because she was most likely to help us out of our predicament. She was not too happy for sure. After the initial shock wore off she wired us enough money to tow the car, find a hotel and buy train tickets back to Michigan. The three of us ended up having a fun evening. We ate at Ed Debevic's and stayed at a posh hotel in the city. The trip had offered us more than we could have hoped for. Our fun however was halted when my parents picked us up at the train station the next day with a look of complete disappointment.

As I was cleaning up my house last week I found that same leather jacket. It was hiding in my basement and doesn't fit anymore. Even so, I have been dragging it from city to city and house to house all these years because I so cherish that first memory with it. Every time I see that jacket I am reminded of my two friends and our youthful indiscretions.

What's intersting is that in the past week I have had the opportunity to visit both Don and Jason. Don flew in from New York last weekend for the closing of Studio 28 and we were able to catch the new James Bond movie. He and I are now famous as we were shown on TV 13 talking about our favorite movie memories. On Tuesday, I flew to Denver to visit Jason and his family for Thanksgiving. We took a hike in the mountains earlier this week and drank out of a mountain river we discovered. It was amazing.

What I am learning is that I don't need an old jacket, no matter how cool it is, to remind me of my friendships. I am so blessed to still have those relationships. And as much as I love that memory of our ill fated Chicago trip, I am making new memories with both Don and Jason. While I outgrew the jacket years ago and it doesn't fit me anymore, my friendships have grown and still fit even better today than back in Chicago. That is why I finally decided it was time to donate the jacket to our church's clothing drive and allow somebody else to make great memories with it. Hopefully, they have as good friends as I do to share it with.