#15.2: Far-away friend: Stretch
Meet Mr. February of Far-away Friend!
When I was 16 my best friend was Jen (no I was not best friends with myself). We were the Jens. We were asked to go along on a big July 4th trip to Grand Lake with some family friends to babysit. Cowboy Family's ranch is where we were going to spend the whole week. Babysitting in the mountains, campfires, a pool....what more could a girl ask for? Well Cowboy Dad and Cowboy Mom had, you guessed it.......3 Cowboys! I'd like to say I was the responsible 16 year old girl who went about my business and babysat all week....but I'd grow a Pinocchio nose.
When I was 16 my best friend was Jen (no I was not best friends with myself). We were the Jens. We were asked to go along on a big July 4th trip to Grand Lake with some family friends to babysit. Cowboy Family's ranch is where we were going to spend the whole week. Babysitting in the mountains, campfires, a pool....what more could a girl ask for? Well Cowboy Dad and Cowboy Mom had, you guessed it.......3 Cowboys! I'd like to say I was the responsible 16 year old girl who went about my business and babysat all week....but I'd grow a Pinocchio nose.
This week some of my favorite people and best friendships were etched in stone. Stretch is Cowboy #3's best friend and came over to spend the whole week with us. Stretch, Cowboy 1,2,3 and the Jens......... We high-jacked pitchers from the keg and took off on 4 wheelers for hours on end, we stayed up all night playing cards, we fished, we had boys against girls canoe races (you know who won those without me telling you), we stayed up all night, we had campfires, we ate junk food, we HAD FUN!
Fast forward a few years and I found myself at Western State College in Gunnison, CO without a roommate. Stretch and I became roommates and we were PERFECT roommates. We lived in low-income housing near campus along with several of our friends. We were "Ghetto" dwellers and loved every second of it. I mean the "Ghetto" even had plug-ins for our diesel pickups!
We both liked to get up early and get some stuff done (most of the time), we could watch Friends for hours, we partied together and we studied together. When I was broke and had Tylie it came to buying food for me or food for my dog at one point.....I became Stretch's permanent dinner date for the "Keating Beating" sometimes referred to as the cafeteria. Stretch wrestled in college and was often cutting weight during season. Unfortunately for him, his birthday fell during wrestling season.....good-bye birthday cake. Enter Jen's Jello cake. Jello birthday cake became a favorite of the WSC Wrestling team.
After leaving college and wrestling, Stretch made a life in Kremmling and after a little while started training for MMA fighting....I think he missed wrestling a little bit. I wasn't sure how I would like watching him fight (I had never really watched MMA), but after going to my first fight, I love watching him fight. He is such a class act and goes out there and puts his heart into it. He is a gracious winner and a true inspiration for those around him. No matter what, he hasn't changed a bit in that aspect.
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| Via CMO Photo |
Via Fight to Win MMA
I have so many awesome memories of life with Stretch back in the day. Today, Stretch has married one of the most amazing gals I've ever met, Mrs. Stretch. She is beautiful, so sweet and so fun. I love them both.
If you are ever in Denver, stalk him on Facebook or Fight to Win MMA and go cheer for him at his next fight! If you don't feel comfortable stalking, you can just get ahold of me and I'll give you the dirt (just tell him I sent you!)
ps. And if you are ever in the need of a dirt/worm cake.....Stretch and I are your people (we even clean up the kitchen so Linda doesn't kill us)!
Thank you for being a great friend Stretch!
Thank you for being a great friend Stretch!
Oh my gosh...love this! You are friends with MMA fighter. Seriously, you're awesome.
ReplyDelete~Tiffany