I got my first skateboard in 1983. I don’t recall if it was a name brand or not, but I do remember that it was a cruiser shape, natural wood grain, and had red, soft, cruiser urethane wheels. The board came from an old, big box store called “Best.” It was the kind of store where you shopped for what you wanted, wrote down the magic numbers and when you were finished, you gave your numbers to the cashier, who would retrieve your item(s) from the warehouse and bring them to you. I can remember riding around a smooth parking lot one of my parents found within an hour of getting this thing that would change my life – not in the sense that I was some great skateboarder (because I never have been). Apparently I took to this new “toy” quickly because within a year, I got my first pro-model board – a Vision Gator. This board was named after professional skateboarder, Mark Rogowski. It had Gullwing Sidewinder trucks and vision shredder wheels. I rode this board for far too long and it became outdated. At some point, I traded the Gator away for a couple of used boards from Robert Collison (a friend of mine) –  what a mistake that was as it is now a collectors item! 

I fell in love with skateboarding in those early years. I began to meet other skaters, which was fun because I’d never been very popular since I was a bigger kid. Because of skateboarding, I became pretty accepted, and for the people that made fun of me, I had 5 skater-friends that were there with me defending me because I was one of them. We were going against the grain. We didn’t play football or basketball or baseball or soccer, and we didn’t dress like or have the same interests as the kids who were playing sports. We were banded together because of 4 wheels and some shoes that were not the popular brand. In those early days, there really wasn’t much differentiation in the terrain we skated like there is now. We were skaters and the brotherhood was real and it was awesome. 

I loved growing up a skater. To this day, I still like to hop on a board and prove to myself (and my kids) that I can still do a couple of tricks. Skateboarding back then came with a lifestyle that parents didn’t love, clothing choices that weren’t always as popular as they are now, music that was misunderstood, and a general understanding of, “questioning those in power (the popular ones).”

Growing up in a culture that wasn’t widely accepted caused some of us to be a little rebellious, skeptical, and full of questions. As I got older and entered different phases in life, some of this leftover attitude from youth encouraged me to question the things people told me such as the, “these people are good and these people are bad” types of statements. 

This mindset has proven to be beneficial in regards to my relationships with people. Perhaps it was my enjoyment of interacting with people, OR it was the unofficial “question everything” training from youth that led me into friendships with so many different types of people, but whatever it was, it has served me well in the friendships that I’d like to share about. Over the coming weeks, months, and possibly years, I’d like to share these stories with you. 

Oh, yeah! 22 years after trading the Vision Gator away to Robert Collison, I was staying at my mom’s house to officiate the memorial service for one of my best friends’ moms. She was pulling old items out that she had saved from my younger days, and she found my Vision Gator that had been traded away in a storage room in her basement! I have NO memory of this board coming back to my life, but I am glad it did. I hope you enjoy the stories that are coming.