From Mom, 9/30/2005

Last year, I took Anthony shopping for shoes. He picked a pair out, tried them on, and said, “Man, these are TIGHT, Mom.”

“Ok,” I said, “Let me grab a bigger size.”

He grinned and said, “No, Mom, these are TIGHT.”

“Well, if they’re so TIGHT, we need to get you a pair that’s BIGGER, right?”

“Ma, these are tight, like, COOL, ya know? Tight is like cool or awesome.”

“Oh.”

~~~

Today would have been Anthony’s 14th birthday, and we went to his school to give wristbands and cds to his classmates. I hope everyone who wants one gets one…. We played a slideshow with the song “When September Ends,” by Green Day.

When the eighth-graders started walking into the gym, several of them were wearing Anthony’s trademark “TAKE ME HOME & FEED ME” t-shirts, with his handstand picture printed on the back, and several had sweatshirts with a skater, Anthony’s initials, his birthdate, and “Skate on.” I didn’t really see all the detail on the shirts, because it was difficult to take a close look at things like that right then. It was a really tough moment, but good.

And those t-shirts and sweatshirts were TIGHT, y’all.

You guys are great.