Very sorry to read about your loss. Your friend looks like Vin Diesel. I was confused at first because I seriously thought it was Vin Diesel.
This elegant piece has a definite Stand by Me feel; maybe you should write a long short story about it?
PS -- it was Joni Mitchell in Big Yellow Taxi who wrote, "don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got until it's gone" in like, 1971. But I'm sure that's not original either.
Thanks so much, @janenightshade. Tom had a thick head of hair back in high school, so I always kind of do a double-take when I see pics of him with it buzzed down so low. I'll take Vin Diesel as a compliment for him, since he played football and lifted weights. :)
Non-fiction into fiction is a path I've attempted before, and I have never felt I succeeded with it. There are stories, and there are memories, and unless it's on a very superficial level, I have trouble mixing the two effectively. Just not that good a writer, I suppose. :)
Ha! Yeah, I guess I didn't make the joke obvious enough, since I linked Counting Crows' (and Vanessa Carlton, on backup vocals, I want to say...?) cover of her song. Pretty lame attempt at humor, but I'll own it. :D
Oh, I didn't click the link. I didn't realize CC did a cover of Big Yellow Taxi? My bad, so sorry!
I think you are a much better writer than you give yourself credit. But maybe you just have to grow your mind into that mindset? I didn't really seriously start turning my experiences into fiction until I was 48.