A three year old kid, not a care in the world. I can see him playing in the yard by himself, then he stops and sees his mom with a camera. So he points, and laughs and shows off for the camera. This is my best friend Dan O’Brien, back in the day, dressed up as the Greatest American Hero, from his favorite television show. This picture was taken probably fourteen years before I knew Dan, and not much has changed since then. Well, he’s a little taller, and lost the blond hair, but he’s still the same Danny O’Brien. He still shows off for the camera, smiling for himself and for the people he cares about most. Here’s a picture of my best friend years before we met, and he hasn’t changed a bit. The little boy I see in this picture is the same Dan I see now. He’s always been a goofy little kid, showing off for the camera or for his friends, trying to make people laugh. And he’s good at it. Every time I see this picture I smile, not because of the little kid, but because it reminds me of how Dan is, a fun-loving kind of guy. He’s like a brother to me, someone who will try to cheer you up when you’re down, someone who’ll listen to your problems and understand all the stupid things you’ve done and who was there for some of them.

Dan is my best friend, and there’s a lot of bias attached to that. I see him as few others do, and I have to try and show the world who I see when I think of Dan. It’s a hard task to do, but it’s something I have to do. It’s something I want to do. This could very well be the hardest project I’ll ever have to write, because I have to try and see Dan in different lights, all the while trying to represent who he is. I see him as my best friend, others will see him as just some guy in their class, and what I have to do is try and faithfully represent the Dan I see to others who don’t see him the way I do. I am lucky in some ways, because I had the chance to talk to his parents and find out stories about Dan from when he was younger, before I knew him. His parents helped me pick out pictures to use, and they told me stories that went along with the photos. I think that all of these photos show Dan when the pictures were taken, and still represent who he is today.

-Doesn’t It Feel Good by For Stars

So what in the world is that supposed to mean? Well, wouldn’t it be great if the rain tasted like beer? But it is relevant to Dan in some ways. Dan played me that song last summer while driving in the car, on our way to his place to watch the Cubs play. And wouldn’t it feel good if the Cubs were the best? It’s too bad they’re not.

Just look at this little kid in his Cubs cap, leaning up against the couch smiling at the camera once again. Dan’s probably seven or eight in this picture, and just like most little boys, he loves sports. The Cubs are his favorite team, and always will be. When he was younger, he used to watch the games with his parents and get so excited when they won, and he’d cry when they lost. I feel bad for the kid, because he must have cried a lot. Come on, they’re the Cubs, the perennial losers of Baseball! But the Cubs have heart; they’re real ballplayers. At least that’s what Dan tells me about them. He’s got loyalty here, and he shows it. This past season, Dan never missed a pitch of the Cubs games when he was at school unless he had class. Over the summer, when he worked as a Camp Counselor, he would send kids inside to check the score for him, under the guise that they had to use the bathroom. I’ve never seen anyone care that much for a team in my life. It’s all loyalty there.

Dan’s not just loyal to the Cubs, there’s also Notre Dame Football, Illinois State Redbirds Basketball, and the Bears. I swear the kid watches every minute of every game he can. But being loyal to a sports team isn’t what I see when I look at the photo. I see a Dan O’Brien who’s loyal to his friends. That team loyalty transfers over to friendship. I know Dan will do anything to help out his friends. And that loyalty is reciprocated back to him. Just think about it, I’m writing this about him and what he means to me as a friend.

The Gatorade song about Michael Jordan

Two little boys, one’s ready for his first day of school, the other wants to follow Big Brother everywhere he goes. That’s Dan on the right, and his older brother Mike on the left. As far as I know, Dan has always looked up to Mike, and it’s not just because Mike was always taller. Just look, Dan even had to have his own nametag, just like Mike did. Back in the day, when Mike was six and Dan three, they used to run around the house like Tasmanian Devils. Dan’s parents told me that he used to run after Mike everywhere, and when Mike would turn to go around corners, Danny wouldn’t. He’d run right into the wall and knock himself down. His parents put padding on all the walls and a helmet on his head so he wouldn’t hurt himself. Goofy little kid. But that’s all because he wanted to follow his brother everywhere. Back then, Dan wanted to be just like Mike.

Nowadays, Dan still looks up to Mike. He still goes to Mike for a lot of things, ideas about life, theories about women, and new music. Some of those theories are worthless, especially the ones about women. Mike’s Three Rules About Women: One- Never follow a woman if she leaves mad. Two-Never take a date to a concert. Ever. Three-Never make plans with a woman more than a month in advance. Dan’s never really followed Mike’s ideas about life or women, and to his credit, Mike hasn’t really either. It’s just their way of complaining about life in general. Dan always goes to Mike for new music. Mike’s got a huge CD collection, with damn near every kind of music you can think of. But Dan only goes for the indie rock, like For Stars, Braid, Josh Rouse, Wilco, Smart Brown Handbag, and the list could go on for pages. Dan’s passed that music on to me, just like he tried to pass the Life theories that I just laugh at. There is so much great music I would have missed out on if it weren’t for Dan and his brother. Every year, for my birthday and then for Christmas, Dan makes me a tape of what he thinks is the best music of that year. The Best Music Never Heard.

Pat, Danny’s younger brother, is just like him in some aspects, he also wants to be like Mike. He listens to the same music, and tries to do the same things. Pat used to play high school basketball, possibly just because Mike loved watching JT, our high school. Dan loved watching Joliet Township Steelmen play too, even though he went to a different school. Their love for JT basketball brought me to watching their games over Thanksgiving, and going to the games over Christmas break. I’ve actually driven to ISU, picked Dan up and gone to one of the JT games on a Friday night. It’s a 2-hour drive to home, but I went because Pat was playing in the game.

After our freshman year of College, we played basketball three or four times a week at a friend’s house. We had 2 on 2 tournaments, best of 5 games. The teams pitted best friend against best friend. Dan and our friend Hugh were on one team, and my teammate was Hugh’s best friend Eric "Eli" Elias. That first year, Dan and Hugh won and took home the trophy. Those bastards. Funny thing is that trophy Dan holds as though he were the MVP, came from Hugh. It was Hugh’s trophy from basketball back in grade school, when he and Dan played on the school’s team together. Those two were good friends in High school as well. I never went to school with Dan, we met through mutual friends our junior year of high school, four years ago.

I know it’s just a basketball trophy, but to me, it’s the trophy for "Best Friend of the year". It’s hard to see, but Dan’s beaming, so proud of his achievement. And that’s the way he’ll be in my mind, a great friend and a decent basketball player. It’s too bad that just this past summer I won the tournament, this time with a new partner. Even though my team won, it wasn’t the same. It didn’t feel right robbing Dan of his precious trophy, but I did it anyway.

Mr. Jones, Live in ‘96 by Counting Crows

Like I mentioned before, Dan and I have never gone to school together. Right now, he goes to ISU. We don’t see each other as often as we’d like, so when we do we make sure it’s a grand old time. In the beginning of November, I drove to Eastern to pick up Hugh and then drove over to ISU for a surprise birthday party for one of Dan’s roommates. There, the three of us hung out like we did all summer long. Sort of. Whenever the three of us get together during the school year, we like to have a nice cigar. This is a great picture of the three of us, taken around two in the morning when we’re all drunk as skunks, wanting to stay out until the sun came up. We sat outside the party and talked and joked around for 3 hours. We didn’t make it until the sun came up, Dan fell asleep around 4. As stupid as we were, it was time well spent with Dan.

(note to women: Dan is currently single. And if you like what you see, please send picture or call 1-309-451-1636. He made me put that in there)

When I look at this picture I see so much more than three drunk college students smoking cigars. I see three friends having a good time, a sort of reunion between them. Dan helped me choose this picture out of all those taken that night because he though it was the best one. It shows three good friends and our closeness. As much as Dan is my best friend, I have to include Hugh, because as long as I’ve known Dan, Hugh was always there. He doesn’t understand me as well as Dan though, and that’s why the focus is more on Dan than Hugh. Those two guys are like brothers to me, I’m probably closer to them than I am my own brother. I’d do anything for them.

Now there’s something that represents Dan and our friendship better than anything else. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll do my best to try and do so. In the Hindu religion, there is a story called the Ramayana. It tells the story of Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu and a savior of the world. In it, Rama meets Hanuman, the son of the wind and the King of the Monkeys. Hanuman pledges his life to Rama, and would do anything for him. Hanuman risks his life to rescue Rama’s wife, and he tears off a mountaintop to find an herb that will bring Rama back to life. Once Rama is King, he asks Hanuman what he wants, what is in his heart. Hanuman rips his chest open and shows what is inside him. In his heart lies Rama and his wife, Hanuman would do anything for him. And I’d do anything for Dan. And I know he’d do anything for me. Dan is Rama to my Hanuman. The loyalty to each other is there and has been there since the beginning. I’m not Hindu, and neither is Dan. He’s Irish. But I think he understands the story and what it means. And that’s why it’s there, because it represents who we are and what our friendship means. Dan’s my best friend, and I hope he understands what that means to me, because words can’t explain it.

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