Birthday...

I wanted to take the time out to wish my friend Tramell a happy birthday today. Unfortunately I will not be able to do that in person. You see, Tramell is in prison. Earlier this year he was convicted of multiple counts of bank robbery. He has not be sentenced yet, but his charges carry a mandatory minimum federal prison sentence of 32 years.

.

Now if you are reading this and you don't know Tramell, you may think he is a horrible person. Well I know Tramell better than most people in this world, and I can tell you he is far from it. He is a good person with a good heart... who just made some bad decisions. I am in no way trying to justify what he was convicted of, but I know he was going through a lot before he got into his situation. His little brother died of leukemia at 19, his other little brother was locked up, and he had multiple other issues going on in his life.

.

Me and Tramell go waaaay back. We grew up together. It was me, Tramell, Josh, and Shannon. We all came from the same situation. None of us had a father... and our families were poor. We all loved basketball, girls, and we loved to gamble. When you seen one of us, you would see all of us. We were like brothers. When I look back at the things we have been through together... I can't help but smile. Our maturation from boys to men is the topic of the book that I am writing. We always said that if we made a movie about the things we did one day, nobody would believe us. Well we will see...

.

We shared soooo many experiences together. I will never forget...

-us gambling at Stevens park
-us dissing each others mom's (your grandma still be watching wrestling???)
-the first time I dunked at Jordan park and he was HATING
-all of us walking at night into the West End with just a basketball, finding a court with lights, and everyone coming home with a bike
-walking home from Liz house when the sun came up
-you beeper code 11-6
-the time he fell down the hill with the hockey stick
-the time we went to that chick crib with Shannon in Easton and Shannon saying "don't laugh at this chick when you see her"
-Life After Death
-him stealing tapes at the mall and making mad noise while breaking the plastic
-us working at Burger King together for ONE day
-him crashing the car we "found" on Josh's block
-the night at that party in Whitehall... Billy Bob... All Eyez on me... Dina's Diner...
-Shaleese and Tiffany fighting over him, pulling each others hair out in the Annex
-the alley oop I threw him when he dunked on Stephan(still one of the best dunks I have ever seen)
-Coming of Age
-him arguing with Shannon for 5 hours straight in the parking lot behind my crib about EVERYTHING(can you ride bike under water, Kobe vs Vince, hydroplaning, etc.)
-dissing Will at Jamel's crib
-Group with Ms Miller
-3 Renee's
-gambling on new years and not even realizing the new year was upon us
-me messing up his hair cuts
-Saturday mornings playing basketball at the SA
-gambling at Josh's crib for 48 hours straight
-the Central Catholic girls
-me crashing Liz car, and Shannon's uncle Willie locking him out of the house
-the crib in Catty
-Boones
-us playing Madden at the crib on 12th st all day
-Rosie Perez
-all of us buying those jackets on Fulton St and having our names sewn on them
-him throwing Kim's sneakers out of the window
-us watching Shannon cry when the Lakers beat the Blazers
-Kenny
-the Asian chick that played Josh at my crib on 11th st
-us sitting on the porch at midnight... then deciding to go to Ocean City Maryland the next day... with less than a hundred dollars combined and no spare tire in the Camry
-Atlantic City... Atlantic City... Atlantic City

I could go on... and on... and on... and I will one day, but not now. All I can say is I treasure our friendship and the moments we had. Every time me and Shannon talk, we always end up laughing about the things we have been through together. It makes me sad when I realize that we may never all hang out ever again. I know things are hard right now... but I also know if there is anyone mentally tough enough to handle that situation, it is Tramell. Hopefully today he is able to close his eyes, and take himself to a better place in his mind.

.

Happy Birthday Tramell. You are my brother. We love you... we miss you... and you will never be forgotten.

.

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...