Great Friends. Great Times.

A friend of mine that I have known since freshman year in high school came to visit me this weekend. He wasn't here long and we didn't really do anything exciting, but we still had a good time. As we usually do when we get together, we talked a lot about things we have done, places we have been and memories we have from the last 15 years.

He is one of a group of four guys that I have known since high school and have all remained good friends since. Despite the fact that I have moved 1,000 miles away from them, we still keep in touch and try to make trip one way or another whenever possible. They all stood up for me at my wedding and have played a major role in just about every major event in my life since high school. They have all stepped up in their own way to help support my wife and I through every hardship that we have had to face.

There are too many memories that we have had together to list, but here is a small sample of some of the greatest and most memorable moments we have had.

So in the infamous words of Niec; "This one is for you guys."

-An amazing trip to Colorado during college. Hiking down one of the mountains and getting caught in the thickest group of shrubs imaginable, and one of us jumping in the lake to swim back to the cabin instead of walking through it. Pushing "the rock" over the edge of the road expecting it to knock down trees, only to see it slide five feet and stop. Matt's shoes.

-Coming back to the house one night while they were on a trip to visit, and seeing them all sitting in the hot tub that had been severely over chlorinated. (I could actually smell the chlorine in the air). Most of their bathing suits fell apart before they went home.

-Driving ridiculous distances to watch our high school football games.

-Standing in a terential down pour at a Bears game at Soldier Field in a game that was eventually called because of the weather.

-Countless games of 2 0n 2 football, including an epic battle at the Michigan Dunes beach, in which we clearly caught the ball in bounds.

-The eternal argument; Whose fault was it? Brett Favre or Derrick Mays?

- The Burger King sign.

-Camping and Kayaking on the Mississippi River and nearly cutting my foot off chopping wood for the fire.

- Too many moments from almost 10 different Jimmy Buffett concerts to count.

- Taking a Grey Hound bus 7 hours to see Opening Day at Wrigley Field in 1998.

- My crazy ex girlfriend that payed one of the guys $20 to smash an egg on my head. He told me about it ahead of time and we were going to split the money, only to have him break the egg in his hand because he was laughing so hard.

-The after prom party in which one of them almost got into a fight, while two of us sat and watched.

-Our first back packing trip just before we all went off to college. Learning that spaghetti and whiskey do not mix well.

-Having all of them stand up with me at my wedding, and making the entire weekend unforgettable.

Thanks for the memories.