Different walked into town when I was in 7th grade. He had spikey, died blond hair and a chain that hung from his wallet. His shorts hung passed his knees. He was the first person I knew that could really skateboard. This may not seem so different but in 1997 in my small sleepy town in the rural Alabama, this was way different. His dad had taken a job with the police department. They had come from Arizona.

The first time I saw him, I was selling yearbooks and went to his class. We became friends some time after that.

He was one of the first people I remember who was not afraid to be he who he was- regardless of what people thought- no easy task for a 13 year old in any part of the world.

Once I remember he dated the most popular girl in our school, guys lined up to be his friend. After this brief relationship ended, so did several of the so called friendships. It is so much easier to follow than to forge your own path. I am sure it hurt. We remained friends.

I remember us listening to a lot of Kid Rock. He gave me a Kid Rock CD with parental advisory on the cover. We both enjoyed Wayne’s World, and the infamous scene where they start singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the car. Classic! He also did a great impression of Mike Myers singing “Happy Birthday Mr. President” mimicking Marilyn Monroe. We also loved the skit on SNL- “Coffee Talk”.

He moved the summer we were headed to 10th grade and for summers after that for a few years, he’d come back and visit. I haven’t seen him in years but thanks to social media, I still can catch up on what’s going on with him.

What I learned from our friendship was the importance of accepting people for who they were despite differences -where they be looks, where you come from, etc. People deserve to be seen and heard and not judged which as humans we tend to do by nature.

Now this friend is getting married and I am sure will start a family. I wish him the best and hope that he shows his kids old clips of Mike Myers and makes them listen to Bohemian Rhapsody.