There is this boy

Now I know it has been ages and ages since I graced the halls of dear old Cowart and AMS. Those are the schools that are intertwined with my first memories of him. My alma mater, AHS, was where most of my favorite memories happened. And for the last few days I have been there again. I see the lockers and the library with Mrs. Greer standing watch. The cafeteria and the Sun-Drop machine that always had the longest line. I really miss that thing. Even more than that I miss the feeling of invincibility I had. Sure bad stuff happened to my family and even to those who walked the halls with us. But those 4 years, however tough, never stole my feeling of being able to do it all, to fix whatever went wrong. I was pretty dumb. I can't fix something that stinks and it isn't Hutch's latest diaper. That I have covered. It is my old friend Will. He and I lost touch over the years as I got away from Athens one city at at a time. I think I last saw him in Tuscaloosa walking across the campus of Alabama. Since I haven't lived in Athens in a long time, I don't know Will now. I haven't run into him at Wal-Mart or seen him at church. I don't think I have ever met his wife. In fact, I didn't even know he was married until la couple of years ago. That is just what happens I guess but it doesn't change the fact that Will, along with many others, were a big part of my past. AHS wouldn't have been the same without his smiling face. I can see him strolling through the halls in a football jersey before games. We didn't always share classes and we didn't hang out on the weekends. What we did do was laugh and joke our way through accounting. We had some crazy wild fun in Mrs. Wills class with Scott, Donna, Cory, Kim, David, and Oliver. If you were in a bad mood and around Will for any length of time, the bad mood wouldn't last. There are people who leave an impact on you and for me Will is one of those people. When I first found out he was sick, I mailed him a card and a little package. Inside was a pack of mechanical pencils. Now, most people would find that to be a ridiculous gift for someone battling cancer but it was important to me. You see, for as long as I can remember Will always carried the same type of pencil. It was yellow with a pink eraser and a tan tip. His parents must have bought them by the case. Every single time I would see a pack of pencils hanging in a store, I would think of Will and wonder how life was treating him. It didn't matter that ten and now more than fifteen years have passed since I have seen him use one, those are Will to me. And I wanted him to know that he had mattered to me. I wasn't lucky enough to be able to really help with fundraisers or the kickball tournament, but he had my prayers every day. I followed the updates and hoped for a miracle. It seems now that he got that miracle early this morning when he reached Heaven. He deserves nothing less. Willpower!


I have been working on this post for days unsure if I wanted to post it or not. Today is the day many of the same people who were with me in the halls of AHS will gather to say one last see you later to Will. How I wish I could be there. I am pretty certain that today is going to be something special to behold. That's the way it just has to be, because it's Will Haney after all.