Paths that were Crossed

I received the news yesterday and was shocked, stunned and saddened. My Father emailed me the news article the next morning. When things like this happen the news travels very quickly in a small town. It is difficult; difficult to know what to do, difficult to know what to think, difficult to know what to say and difficult to imagine something like this happening to someone you know. Admittedly I was quite tearful and have thought a lot about his family and mostly his Mom; Jackie.

Jason was my first serious boyfriend in HS, my first love. We were an unlikely match and were together for about two years. Prior to that we 'went out' in Middle School. I can still remember the summer between 8th and 9th grade when he *tried* to kiss me at Washies Playground. He was the bad boy/cute Produce Boy at Weis Markets who drove a silver Celica. The two of us had an intense love/hate relationship that I am able to look back and laugh about. Here are some of the crazy memories I have;

• Once Jason backed up into the wooden planter at the gas station as he angrily followed me and my bff Michelle. He squished his tail pipe shut and was very unhappy when he realized it and had to pull over at CVS.
• Once we hit a dear out near his house. He paid to get his car fixed and then hit another dear the next week. I swear he had the worst luck.
• His Mom worked at the deli in Riverside and was always nice to my Poppop. His Aunt Lori owned a pet grooming salon and was also sweet to Poppop. Poppop use to call Jason "Byron" to which Jason never corrected him. Anyone who was nice to my Poppop was a rockstar in my book!
• He came with my family to Allentown as my Mom and I were dancing in a Children's Festival (we were part of a belly dancing troupe). On the way home he hit a stationary and brand new BMW on the highway going 60 mph. Yeah, that was bad.
• I ran over his leg, not once but twice at the Coastal Mart in Riverside (not on purpose). He use to wait for me there as he could spot me coming off of the bridge on my way home. I can still see the headlights on his car popping up signaling for me to stop.
• Once when we were in a screaming match by the side of the road a Riverside cop stopped and broke up the fight and sent us on our way in separate directions.
• He punched a huge dent on the inside drivers door of my little red Mazda (Blaze) and he also punched a hole in one of the walls at school outside of Mr. Yeager's room. I think I frustrated him a little...
  
• I drove up with him and his parents before he started college to see his new apartment. It was so surreal that he was going to have his own place and he bought me a promise ring with a little diamond in it before he left for college.
• He always had a little jar of Carmex (white jar with a yellow lid) in his car.
• He had a thing for Stevie Nicks but mostly listened to rap music.
• He had a huge bass pumping stereo in his car and could always be heard from a distance. He put one in the back of my Blaze once and while it wasn't my thing I thought it sounded good but my Dad got mad at him (after he called my parents home phone and told them to eff off) so he ripped it out of my trunk and threw it at the bottom of our driveway so Jason could come pick it up.
• He was an aggie with a curly type mullet that was fairly cool back in the day (or was it??)and he liked shirts and stickers that said, "No Fear"
• One time he peed on school grounds and Mr. Price (our Principal) came up and stepped right in it unknowingly! He did get suspended for that.
• He use to throw stones over the greenhouse at my bedroom window when I wouldn't answer my phone and one time he even snuck into the house through the doggie door!
• We went to his Senior Prom together in his Dad's antique blue corvette. I wore a little sequined number that I got in NYC. We skipped partying that night (it wasn't my thing as I didn't drink/smoke/do drugs but he could often be found at the rabbit bowl with his Washingtonville friends) and he slept on the couch at my house (nothing naughty, get your minds out of the gutter).
• Once we went skiing together. I slept at his house the night before (he lived right near the exit of route 80) and had my first migraine caused by my tumor that night...it was awful and I was terrified and never told another soul as I didn't know what was happening.
• We drove to a mall in NY and had Glamour shots (gay, I know) taken together. My alternator belt was loose and so we had to drive home on Rt 80 in the dark with no headlights, AC or radio and we had to keep our speed above 60 mph to keep the car from stalling out. Right before our exit (#33) we hit a huge pot hole, bent a rim but were able to make it to Avenue H in Riverside somehow before stalling out again. That was the day I found out you have to put the car in neutral if someone is going to push it...whoops!
• One time while were fighting I was at a party at Tammy's (a clean one). We could all hear him and his bass driving around but he never did find her farm house!
• My Senior week at OC in NJ was a blast. He found me (I was there with 5 guy friends) and insisted I drive home immediately. He followed me the whole way to make sure I made it safely. We got lost in Harrisburg or some place.
• He tried to start a fight with the Elders in front of the Adam's house and he also jumped on the hood of my car on Market street one night after I met with the missionaries.
• He came to visit me once while I was at PSU and we went to the mall to hang out.
• For my 17th birthday we hung out with Marcie and Bill creeping around the state hospital.
• He always said, "it's eleven eleven (11:11) and somebody loves you."
• He got me a kitten; Franky. Franky was the best and always played with the lid from Jason's Mountain Dew. Franky disappeared after we broke up :(
• Tammy and I skipped school and drove to Hershey for wrestling State finals. He drove back with us in a huge snow storm and opened his window just as a huge semi drove by sending dirty snowy slosh all over the inside of Blaze. He didn't think it was funny!
• When he turned 18 he insisted that he have my name tattooed on his hip. This became a huge issue as I was adamant that he not do so. We compromised...I went with him and picked out a tattoo. It was a lizard that matched a silver ring I had. We were dumb!!!
  
• For Valentine's Day our junior year I ditched the Campus Life group (Youth for Christ) that was meeting at my house that very night so that Jason and I could go to Friendly's for Ice Cream. My mentor wasn't happy but I was too head over heels with Jay not to go.
  
• He had the greatest dog Manda, the cutest little cousin Ty and the sweetest Mom Jacki. He looked up to his cousin Jess, loved his older brother Ernie and really wanted his Dad's approval. My heart goes out to all of them at this time.
• There are a thousand more memories that need not be posted but I did want something to document our time together because I am sure as time goes by I am less likely to recall these things. I won't soon forget the chicken coops, Hunter's ice cream and the drive in (again, nothing naughty!!)
  

On the B Side: All of this was a very long time ago but he always made me laugh and kept things exciting despite that fact that I frustrated the heck out of him. We were like night and day and made a very unlikely match. Ultimately we had serious differences in our lifestyles and desires. We did have some fun times and I am sad that his life ended so abruptly and so prematurely. It's always sad to see people slip away senselessly.