Andrew Clay Gaskin, Part 4

Neither Drew Gaskin nor I could afford a car in 1997, but somehow he was able to borrow someone's on April 29th, and he invited me along for a cruise around Diamond Head. We just wanted to get out and goof off in some way that didn't cost us money.

So we parked in one of the lots along the makai side and took some pictures along the ledge. If you get the angle right, it can look like you were on the edge of a cliff.

Of course, in those days -- before digital cameras -- you'd have no way of knowing if you got it right until you'd used up the whole roll of film and got it developed, but sometimes it worked. (Not this time though, apparently.)

When I say Andrew was my friend, it was for stuff like this. He actually liked people. He liked hanging out and talking about real things -- what his life was like growing up, what he hoped for, and what he felt bad about. He had this whole range of emotional vocabulary that I lacked. I learned a lot about how to talk sincerely from him -- that I didn't have to be guarded, sarcastic and biting all the time.

1997 was a difficult year for me. I had run out of money for school, and had to take a year off to establish in-state residency. I was working 50 hours a week between two jobs while staying active in our church -- everything seemed to ride on a razor's edge. He was in a similar position, but we got through it. He would graduate in 1998; me in 1999.

Proverbs 17:17 uses the phrase "a brother is born for a time of adversity." To me, that was him.