A Tribute to a Friend.

We all have a couple friends in our lives who will always be near and dear to us and who will always be the closest to us.  I have a couple friends who have been like family to me since I moved to Portage my Freshman year of High School; Jon Hill, Thomas Schell, Jesse Martinez, Josh Halverson, and Bart Mueller.  This post is a tribute to Jesse Martinez.

I met Jesse my Freshman year of High School, shortly after I moved here.  He was one of the first people I became close friends with.  We sat next to each other in Science Class and jokes around a bit and a solid friendship formed from there.

We spent so much time together, working on cars, cruising, or just going and doing whatever we wanted.  Even after Graduation, we both got jobs at the plant and worked about 15 feet from each other.  It just seems we were meant to be close friends.

Jesse's the kind of guy I could rely on for anything.  I could call him any time, day or night, if I was in a jam and he would help me.  Whenever I had a car problem I couldn't figure out, he was the first person to come help me out.  I remember, even when I just needed a ride to work and back because my starter went on my truck; instead of just dropping me off, which was all I needed, he stopped and helped me drop the starter out, in two feet of snow, at 10:30 at night.  That's the kinda person that Jesse Martinez is.

I could go on for days about what a great guy and what great friends we were and everything, but nobody is going to want to read all that.

So, I told you all that story to tell you this story.  A car pulled out in front of Jesse, while he was riding his motorcycle.  He dumped the bike and tried to slide under the car, but all of this resulted in a collision, anyways.  He didn't survive.  Him and I, and all of our close friends went through something similar when our friend, Josh Halverson, rolled his truck on his way to base for drill.  I never thought anything would be as awful as when Josh passed, but it was just as terrible losing Jesse.  He was like a brother to me and even though all this time has passed, it's not any easier to discuss.

Jesse has two lovely children, Anthony, and Angel.  I am proud to say I am Anthony's Godfather.  Jesse's memory will always live on through his children, and through all the people he touched and who loved him so much.  He will never be forgotten.