If you’re reading this on September 4, it’s a big day. Sure, the first September Proofs e-newsletter came out this morning, but it’s also Mark Combs’ birthday. Yes, sound the trumpets, fire up the band, and pull the cake out of the oven for Mr. Combs’ 43rd birthday.
There are many dates that escape my memory. I have trouble remembering birthdays and anniversaries for so many people (my apologies to all of you who thought I didn’t care about your special day), but I’ve never had problems remembering whose birthday was on September 4. You see, from about as far back as I can remember, Mark was my best friend. Growing up in Sand Springs, the two of us went to church and school together, and did some very idiotic things together (trust me). His parents were great friends with my parents so we had plenty of sleepovers … and did more idiotic things. We went sledding down the 10th Street hill, took a dads-and-sons trip to Colorado together, and shot some really poorly written and acted Super 8 murder mysteries that will someday make their way to YouTube and allow our children to be completely embarrassed by us.
As a sidenote, his mom made (and still makes) an amazing Oreo Ice Cream cake. If you’re ever in the Tulsa area (and hey, why wouldn’t you be?), you’ll have to stop in at Bob and Millie’s B&B and spend the night. They’re great people and I bet she’ll fix you some Oreo Ice Cream cake for dessert.
As Mark and I got older, we still went to church together but Mark became more involved with art while I started focusing on journalism. He was in the band. I was playing football. We still had time together, but not as much as we did.
I blinked and we had graduated from high school. Life moved on and we both changed. We’d see each other every once in a while and always do the “I’ll give you a call sometime and we’ll do lunch” … and the lunch would always be pushed back and pushed back until we both forgot about it. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to see each other; it was just that life was hectic.
I blinked again and we were both married with kids. We lived about seven miles apart, and maybe saw each other once every three months. Life was hectic. There were boxes to check and things to do.
Mark and I have had the chance to work together on some projects in recent years, and it was fun. I did the creative writing and he did the art. It was good to catch up on what was going on with our parents and our kids.
I’ll admit that Mark and I haven’t talked in a while. My excuse? Life is hectic. It’s a poor excuse, to be sure. I saw a quote the other day that said, “Good friends are like stars … You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.”
We all have friends like Mark. They are friends who still mean a lot to us, even though we don’t see them or talk to them that much. We still check up on them on Facebook. We still tell stories to our newer friends about the adventures we had together. We still think back and shake our heads at some of the things we did. We don’t always see these friends, but we know they’re there.
Today is September 4. Happy birthday, Mark. Thanks for being my friend.
