The emotions have bubbled to the surface. I’m home. It feels different this time. I just had the time of my life and I have returned home to a place that won’t be my home for much longer. In the past two weeks, I have experienced a joy that rivals almost everything else that has brought me joy in my 27 years here on Earth. I went on “The Trip” and it was awesome as OG would say! Life has taught me that everything has a beginning and an end and the space in between those two things often vary and at times can be extremely unexpected. When we got in the van on the sunny afternoon of August 7th I knew that “The Trip” would be over by the 19th and I’d be home and back to work by the 20th. What I didn’t know was that on that very same Monday, the missed call that was sitting on my phone as the van drove away from Tacoma was to inform me something else had already come to an end. While on his lunch break, my friend Marquin was struck by lightning and passed away.
The truth is me and Marquin haven’t talked much since high school but the news hit me surprisingly hard. It’s sad. We are from the same place and the older I get it seems like fewer and fewer people understand what that means. I grew up in Lakewood, Washington, and although it's right next to Tacoma it has its own unique culture and Marquin was a fixture of that. He made me want to be “cool” he was a star athlete and simply hilarious, he was there the first time I ever smoked weed. Rest In Peace Marquin.
A lot has changed since that Monday. I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime in a matter of two weeks in the best way possible. I don’t ever wanna take my life for granted because my life is awesome and I’m old enough and mature enough to know life is not awesome for everyone. In the last 8 months, I’ve experienced some of my highest highs and lowest lows and I wouldn’t trade one second of that for anything.
I love music, I love my life, and I love my friends and family. I wanna shout out the trip and everyone who was a part of it. The last two weeks brought back my child like wonder and joy that I started to fear I might have lost forever. I will hold these memories with me for the rest of my life. Feels like the perfect end of this chapter of my life. Goodbye, Tacoma… Hello Los Angeles
