This was written in 2007 during an intense time of self-exploration and a desperate attempt to find the beauty inside me and figure out a way to LIVE that way on the outside.
With life's pressures and telling me who I needed to be to be accepted, the pure message inside constantly got suffocated. Or...I allowed it to get suffocated.
When I closed my eyes and just wrote, this is what came out.
"I got this buddy I've known for years. His name is Good-Time Charlie and we're the best of friends; we do everything together! We met right after birth and never separated, so he's proven himself cool.
All my friends’ love him but he's scared off every girl I've ever managed to attract. Now they do like him at first because he makes all the jokes and has some great lines. But, in the end, those crazy chicks just can't hang with a wild man like Good-Time Charlie.
We do everything together. We're loud & pride when we get going but inevitably he’ll get everyone involved before the night is over. What an instigator!
We make the memories others only dream of. Nothing is too big, too much or too over the top. He doesn't worry about the future but rather makes today the greatest gift and lives it to the full, encouraging everyone to come along for the ride.
Now don't go thinking my ole buddy Good-Time is all bad or just made to play. He's got a serious side too but you'll never see it until you look past your own junk and all that silly judgmental crap is checked at the door.
One time I was looking in the mirror and he was standing right behind me waving and making crazy faces back at me. You know....all the wild stuff that grown-ups aren't supposed to do. I don't tell anyone, but I think it's hilarious and I laugh my ass off.
Most others don't approve of G.T.C. Hell, usually I can't even take him to church with me because he doesn't like suits or stuffy people that kneel rather than serve each other. He does like the singing and raising his hands but the ushers are always watching him to make sure he stays in line and not stare at the girls. Please....as if HE needs church to get girls. Wow, they don’t get him at all!!
Come to think of it, he does best in social settings and children love him. I mean, the dude always has gum and kids can sniff that out for miles. Of course they can sniff out a phony too...I guess that's the reason kids, or at least the young at heart, are always around. I've watched him coach a kid's basketball team and he doesn't even have kids!
Wow, does he love God! I’ll be asleep and he’ll turn on all the lights, jam me in the side and tell me it’s time to talk to God. He explains things so amazing and tells me to open my hard heart and stop thinking about so many things. It aggravates me at first, but then I soften up and before I know it…he’s reintroduced me to God for the day. I’ll be in the middle of conversations with people and he’ll butt right in and start yacking about scripture, theology and ways to do life better…there’s no shutting him up about God and I stopped trying.
Mothers like him too cause he'll make them feel young again and sees their value in a whole different way. My other buddies won’t invite me out unless I bring him with me. If I there is a girl that I’m interested in, I'll take Good-Time Charlie with me to meet the parents and it’s as good as done. Aaaaaas long as her Dad has a sense of humor that is. If not, then we unfortunately BOTH get the life lecture.
Wow, every time I don't listen to him, I get myself in trouble. Although, when he's feeling extra crazy, he'll set me up on some situation on purpose just to watch me fumble around before I figure it out. We are always jacking with each other like that.
He'll rock your world, pull the best of life right outta you and make you feel so darn good, you'll think you could save the world after just 10 min of quality time.
He'll see right past what you want him to see and grab you by what you don't even know is there....loving & laughing all the way. No judgment, no expectations, this guy will find what he likes about you and never let go. I've seen the dude look right into someone's eyes and emphatically and genuinely say, "I think you're awesome".
They're speechless…it’s really amazing. It’s like he’s completely void of fear, ridicule or what others will think. I could never do that!
By the way, kisses and hugs are the only greeting G.T.C. will accept. If you do the handshake thing, that’s cool, but the free arm better be swinging around his neck for the full grip or he’ll make you re-do the entire greeting.
The cat can dance too. He'll catch the eye of a cutie across the room and its go-time, you would think they knew each other for years. After a song or two, she's throwin the phone digits at him and setting up the next date to take a spin across the dance floor again.
You're so cool, Good-Time-C. You've saved me from so many things....mainly boredom. You'll make a woman feel beautiful, a man feel like a king and chase away even the silliest insecurity in all of us.
I take my best friend just everywhere and can't help but feel it's only half me when I venture out alone. Wild thing is, he's kinda unexplainable, although I try. He has no beginning and I don't really know where he came from. I've never met his parents, he never talks about a past, mainly because he doesn't care, don't know where he went to school....I know nothing about him or where he came from.
He’s the ultimate recklessly-calculated gentleman. He’s a Maverick with no home, no agenda and no mission other than what exists right here in this moment. Earthly titles and labels don’t apply, money has no meaning and his life legacy is that of what others build fueled by his encouragement and motivation.
He talks about life and passion better than anyone I've ever met or heard. He makes me & others believe, with just one glance, just one smile and just one touch, that God is alive inside you anything is possible.
Ole G.T.C. has no home but he lives everywhere inhabiting other's life then moving on to the next. The best people in his life love him like I do and always miss him when he's gone.
Hey Good Time Charlie, you’re the best friend I've ever had."
I'm inspired by how many others struggle with this same plight. We shrink back, we fear, we get slapped around and told to fit in. But to what? When we stop spinning from all the minutia, what's real bursts out of us like a train from a tunnel.
It's truly beautiful...and scary.
I honor your path and hope you too will write your story.
~Robin
