Raphael is cool…

…but rude.




If you have not yet, go back two months, and read my tribute to my good friend Phil. I’ll even make it easy for you:

http://eabelton.blogspot.com/2010/01/michelangelo-is-party-dude.html




It’s ok… I’ll wait…
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Done yet? … well then hurry up…
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OK, so… as I was saying, two months have gone by, and the saga continues…
I referred to “The Separation Years of the Turles”. Well, you see, Isaac Miller Elementary school had these “tracks” and they where supposedly fair and equal right… my ass.

You see, A track, had all the REALLY white kids (and for some reason the only 3 black kids). B track had white kids, and white-ish Mexicans. C track had Mexicans and mexicany white kids. And then… there was D track, Mexicans… an ALL brown track. Keep in mind though, this wasn’t racist. Well, the four of us met in D track. Anyone that takes a look at Val, well, no duh D track, and Phil, well, his personality puts him in D track, and… by looks alone, I might have been able to pull off C track. Luke… Whitey McWhiteWhite he could be used as a reflector at night. The school realized this mistake about 3rd grade. Luke disappeared to A track. Then, Phil moved to a different school.

We were not very good planners back then, and Facebook was not in existence (plus we where only like 8) and so, for some reason, none of us really exchanged each other’s numbers. Phil knew mine, I knew my own… but, looking back on it, I don’t even know if I knew Val’s phone number until about 9th grade cause we saw each other so much. Well, all this led to, not one of us having Luke’s number, nor him having ours, so, when A track and D track did not line up, he didn’t exist, nor did we to him. Sad to say, and I regret the time lost, but, that’s what happened. Then, Phil moved away, and it wasn’t convenient for us to hang out with him anymore. We talked to each other like on holidays, and each other’s birthdays, occasionally see each other over break. Then after graduation, he moved to the LA empire, and just when I thought we’d be reunited, he left. Lucky for us, the LA empire didn’t work out for him like he hoped, and he returned to the Central Coast. Val and I were so happy to have our friend back. Then a new semester at college started, and on the first day of my Astronomy class, I saw this skinny white guy who looked REALLY familiar walk in. Turns out… it was Luke. I wasn’t waisting another chance, we exchanged contact information right on the spot, I called up Val and Phil, and reunited us! From 4th grade until about four years ago, we were separated. We had no Luke, and we where only lucky to have Phil around every once and awhile, and so, that’s how “The Separation Years” started and ended.

Well during those years… it was just down to me and Val in D track. Even when we weren’t in the same class, we still had the same lunch break and recess to catch up. PLUS, like I mentioned before, our single Mom’s where both friends, so the two of them tag teamed raised us. On holiday’s I’d go spend the mornings with Val while my mother worked, weekends where the only time me and him didn’t see each other. Then, in 6th grade, he was going to go to Valley Christian Academy, sure, if I had gone to one of the other High Schools, I’d run into one of the other guys, but the last two years have been about Val, so, why risk it, at VCA, I KNEW I’d be near him, because the place is so small. So, Val left Miller a semester early, I held out till the end. Making me, the only Turtle to START D track in kinder, and END D track at 6th grade graduation. I joined Val at VCA on the first day of 7th grade. It was not what I expected it to be. Jr. High, if not for Val, would have been, a completely useless time in my life. In fact, to this day, I don’t remember much of it, because of how many memories I’ve purposely regressed into the back of my mind. Pretty much… a combination between Scouts and Val kept me from trying to put an end to it all. This is the same time period when my mistrust in “christians” began.

2010 marks my, Val, and Luke’s 20th anniversary. The thing is… out of 20 years, for nearly half of that, it was only me and Val. Sometimes it seems like Val and I have an unfair advantage in our foursome friendship. Truth is, we do. We weren’t a team for almost half the time that the four of us have known each other. For half that time, it has been a partnership. He and I have had 10 years worth of adventures together. Riding dirt bikes near his apartments, learning different swim techniques in the pool, and all sorts of other fun things that usually ended with one of us (usually me) hurting ourselves.

Together he and I learned about life, survived temporarily losing our other 2 best friends, and when his appendix blew up in sixth grade, I spent every minute that I was allowed to at his bedside until he recovered. Then he did, and we went on to Jr. High together, and then covered each other’s back during High School. I went on his first “double” date with his wife. Despite differences, fights, and arguments that allowed us to slightly drift apart in High School, we still had the same schedule and classes during our first year in college.

Now we are “grownups”. He was the first of our team to complete his Bachelors degree and he was the second one to expand our family by getting married. Now, he is preparing to buy his first house with his beautiful wife Deanna. The great part about when Val expanded our “turtle family” is, he has a good problem to have, unlike most guys, he can’t really make Mother-in-law jokes. Why? Cause he actually has a pretty awesome Family-in-law. When you look at the quality of people that make up his Family-in-law, it’s really no wonder how great his wife turned out. And when you know how great of wife he has, you realize, why he is so happy in life. I’ve been replaced as number one partner, but, it’s a replacement that is perfectly fine with me. If I have to be #2 (technically #3, but if you’re not counting God in all this), I’m really glad that it’s to Deanna.

Ya know… When I first started writing this blog, I thought, psh, Val, ya, no problem, I could write about the last 20 years of my life no problem. But, now that my hands are on the keyboard I realize… how exactly am I suppose to put into words the bond that he and I have? I mean, this is someone who I’ve grown mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually with for over 4/5ths of my life. I can’t really write about him without making it sound like I’m talking about myself, and if he were to take the time to really give it enough thought, I’m sure he’d come to the same conclusion about me.

Now, two months ago, when writing about our dear friend Phil, it was easy finding a light hearted video that compared Phil to Michelangelo, but, I’ve found it surprisingly harder to find one that compares Val to Raphael, because what really makes Val Raphael, is Raphael’s relationship to Leonardo, and vice versa. So, being home with a hurt back and plenty of rain to keep me indoors, I figured, forget depending on YouTube. Instead, I just put my own together.

Pictures do better than words, I’m sure video does better than pictures. The following is a Hollywood look at our friendship. Starting with our youth, going on adventures like Indiana Jones (“Without a Paddle”). To an example of how we use to fight and get over it in no time. To how I felt the day that Val felt better from his Appendix blowing up. Then, how he probably felt (and feels) when he first started dating and when I act my stong willed self. The ONLY thing that would make the City Slickers reference more accurate, is if Billy Crystal’s character was named “Val”, because the other two are “Ed(ward) & Phil”. To those that are wondering… YES I do want to run with the bulls, and YES, I am trying to rope them into it also.


It has been a great 20 years, ups and downs yes, but, totally worth it, and I’m looking forward to the next 20, and the 20 after that, don’t know if I’m looking forward to the 4th set of 20 though, cause, we’ll really be up there in years by that point, but, se la vi.







Happy Birthday Val, I philos you, and miss you.