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I had a good time at my father's yesterday. We ate barbecued ribs, corn on the cob and potato salad. Dad bought a surround sound system some time ago and, every time I was there, I noticed it didn't really sound quite right. Yesterday, I decided to take a look at it. He didn't have ANYTHING hooked up digitally. He was running his DVD player straight to the TV and then back to the Audio System from there, meaning he was getting two channel audio only. I fixed all of this, and gave him the standard "your TV is just a monitor" setup that so many home theater enthusiasts are growing accustomed to. We also ran to target and bought him an optical cable (which it turns out he can't use because I didn't bother to check and see if his DVD player has optical out, since most of them do) and a nice touch screen universal remote. He didn't flinch at dropping $100 bucks on a remote, even after I tried to talk him out of it.

Driving around Keller, the city where my parents live, and where I lived with during my last two years of high school, was odd. Everything has changed. When I lived there, this city was not a city, it was a small town. I knew all the nooks and crannies. I knew where all the roads went. I could get from anywhere to anywhere in my sleep. There are new roads that never existed. There are entire shopping centers. Keller has a Starbucks, a Target, a Lowes, a Wal-Mart, a Tom Thumb, a Walgreens and many new restaurants. All new. My high school is having a new addition built on to the gymnasium. Keller now has a REAL apartment complex called Stone Glen. It actually looks nice with pretty blue awnings and nice landscaping. The metro food outlet is now a church.

I drove up and down these roads. I drove through all the winds of Dove road and out past Mt. Gilead church where the horses and white picket fences are. I remembered Julie and Amanda sitting on the floor of Emily's old house and Julie telling me if I didn't stop picking on her, she'd sick her brothers on me.

I drove past the Chink store (excuse the slang, that's what everyone called it). I remembered my first cigarette. I remembered when I started drinking coffee because I wanted to stay up all night with my Dad and make sure my brother didn't run away from home. My dad started drinking coffee then, too.

I sat at PACT park and remembered playing hide and go seek in the dark at two in the morning and laying very still whenever the cops decided to show up. I remembered doing this a lot. I remembered shooting water balloons onto the hard tin roofs of the park from Nate's backyard. I remembered all the plays I had been in, and all the girls I had kissed. I remembered learning to drive. I remember piling 11 people into my Dad's Suzuki Swift and driving as fast as the poor thing would go on our way to the movie store. I remember playing quarters at Nate's house until our knuckles spilled their blood on the kitchen floor.

I drove past Jennifer's house. I remembered U2 and doritos. I remembered all the time we spent alone, fooling around. I remembered the time her mom caught me touching her breasts. I remembered her sisters, Samantha and Tammy. I remembered the day her dad looked her in the eyes and said, in a way that only an insane man who served in Vietnam and had a Bazooka in his garage could, "There are two kinds of fucking. There's fucking, and then there's mind fucking. And you're a mind fucker." I remembered sneaking into the girl's dorm at MSU and spending the night on Samantha's floor. I remembered the surprise wedding that Jennifer and I participated in on behalf of my family. I remembered the trip to Vermont for that wedding, and how badly I wanted to not be with Jennifer any more. I remembered the summer I spent in New York and I remembered meeting Sara. I remembered wanting to be with her so badly. I remembered not doing anything because, even though I didn't want to be with her, I was still with Jennifer. I remembered her telling me she was pregnant, as a way of saving our relationship and me laughing hysterically since we had never even had sex. I remembered the day that things ended with Jennifer. I remembered every last detail. I remembered how my parents forbid me from seeing her after almost 2 years of dating. I remembered my dad breaking my car so I couldn't drive, and them not allowing me to take phone calls. I remembered being very sad, but not putting up much of a fight. I remembered the day Jennifer and I started talking again, after my parents allowed it. I remembered her throwing herself in front of my car. I remembered her threating to kill herself. I remembered driving off and her following me. I remembered sandwiching myself in between two 18-wheelers, because I knew she wouldn't follow. I remembered not caring about her any more.

I drove down the roads that led to my house. I remembered Krista, her neck piercing, and her suicide. I remembered backing into that car and driving off as fast as we could, for fear of getting caught. I remember getting caught. I remembered driving by music, where the next song played on the radio dictated which direction you would drive in. I remembered the first time I smoked pot. I remembered smoking it out of a coke can. I remembered not getting high. I remembered the second time I smoked pot. I remembered smoking in David Watson's playhouse out of a converted lug nut. I remembered getting very high. I remembered the look on David's face when I came out of the playhouse and David looked at me and said, "Daniel's fucking high" freckled with laughter.

I remembered Brad and how he was always there, no matter what. I remembered the Barney exorcism kit I gave him for his birthday one year, or was it Christmas. I remembered his dog cootie. I remembered his sister Danielle who, even though he never knew it (until now), I had the biggest crush on. I remembered Brad's car. I remembered the Jet Ski accident. I remembered the winding way down Alta Vista to get to the apartment where he lived.

I drove past Ali's house, and then past Jeremy's house. I remembered staying up late at Jeremy's, just he, Ryan and I, talking about stuff that didn't matter, but really it did. I remembered the midnight lumber yard, the vandal van, and all the time we spent in the hot carpeted enclosure in Jeremy's garage. I remembered Ali's cold, clammy fingers, her large breasts, the tightness of her back and the first day that I met her when she was on my light crew in drama her Freshman year. I remembered all the notes we passed. I remembered calling her house late at night and then hanging up, so that she would know to call me right back as soon as her parents dozed off again. I remembered the taste of Marmite(sp?) on a cracker. I remembered the look on her face after I told her that Jennifer told me that she wouldn't be friends with me if I continued to see Ali. I remembered saying goodbye and regretting it so badly. I remembered spending the next few months knowing I had made a bad choice, and knowing that I didn't have the spine to do anything about it.

I remembered the happy, the sad, the insane, the stupid, the depressing, the devastating, the uplifting, and the enlightening. I remembered more than I could possibly write in a few paragraphs. I remembered all of this, and I hoped I would never, ever forge I rememebered more than I could possibly write in a few paragraphs. I remembered all of this, and I hoped I would never, ever forget it.