True Friend By Jenn Knaut

Time and again I have sat down at many a computer and have logged onto Travis' website. I have relished in the thoughtful and refreshing tales of Travis' life and have wished that I too could share. Countless nights I have lied in bed, wide awake, with the perfect words to write for you all, but by the time I make it to the computer, I either start crying until the screen has become too blurred to see or the words recess back into my jumbled brain to only reappear the next night as I lie in bed...thinking...thinking of all the times Travis and I spent together. There were a lot of times, and for that I am eternally grateful. So many years, so many memories, so little words, so little time. I moved to Maine during my third grade year, and although I knew who Travis Weston was, we traveled in different circles until our sophomore year of high school. Our fate was sealed during the outdoor track season. I remember the day when it all started. Coach Norris wanted us to do a long slow distance run. From out of the blue, it seemed, Travis asked if I wanted to run with him. Being the eligible young bachelorette, I couldn't turn down such a scruffy haired young man, so we ran (with Wild Bill in tow). Later I found out that his hair wasn't scruffy at all; he used Pantene Pro-V. I could write a book about the Travis/Jenn adventures. After high school, when most of our friends drifted into the background of our lives, he and I never faltered. At some points it seemed that it may have been better if we had grown farther apart, but that was never the case, and today I am more than grateful for that. We traveled in so many directions, only occassionally to actually see each other, but we could still count on those random phone calls at all hours from Boston, San Diego, D.C., Virginia, Maine, wherever. I spent seven years with him in my life, and they are ones I will never forget. It has been four months to the day since we lost him, and I keep telling myself it's going to get better, but every morning when I wake up, it seems that isn't going to be the case. I moved to Boston in August and I kept thinking about all the great things he and I would do when he moved here after he left the Navy in February. Well, February has partically come and gone and now I keep thinking, "He's gone. You are never going to see him again in this world." And pain is only an understatement. I apologize for my delay in sharing my thoughts with you all. To be honest, there have been many instances when I have tried to ignore everything that is Travis. We loved each other, and this is not something that I say looking back on our relationship, but something I would have told you even a week before he passed. He was a true friend, and I will always love him. Not even death can take that away.