I've been putting this off for awhile. It's been pretty tough dealing with the loss of such an awesome person that I was privileged to call my friend. Although I only knew Nico for a little more than a year and a half, he easily became one of my closest friends. I still remember the time I met Nico: CU band camp 2011. I was getting my stuff all ready for the first day of band camp and meeting all the new freshmen when up to me comes this guy wearing a black beater with tattoos and toe shoes. We said hi, introduced ourselves, and meanwhile I'm thinking to myself "this kid's kind of strange, who the hell wears toe shoes?" However, over the following week and marching season, I realized this guy was one of the coolest and most mature freshman I've ever met and he became my one of my closest friends. I don't think I've ever had a friend I felt more comfortable spilling my secrets to, and he probably knew more about me than 99% of all my other friends.
At first, he was kind of an introvert, at least it seemed that way. But after I kept talking to him and nagging him to come out with the cymbal line to parties and such, the closer we became. The one moment that kind of solidified our friendship was after a cymbal party when we slept over and took care of one of our friends. During this we had a drunken tell-all and got to know each other very well.
Over the remainder of the season, we became even better friends. At one point I needed a suit for band banquet. So the only person I would ever trust with fashion advice, Nico, came out with me and for 5+ hours helped me pick out a suit (which btw, is my favorite suit I've ever owned).
After the season ended, we hung out every now and then, but nowhere near as much as we did during the season. When we did hang out, we usually drank scotch, listened to jazz, and just talked about life.
The last time I saw him was at our cymbal party, only briefly, in early February. I wish I could have seen him more and talked to him more during that time, but there's really nothing I can do now. I am grateful I was able to hang out with him one on one the week before.
I miss my friend. I miss the one person I felt wouldn't judge me. I miss the continuous back-and-forth Family Guy references. I miss the mustache jokes. I miss Nico Osorio.
Billy Joel was right when he said only the good die young. He was the best of us. I miss the hell out of the man and I can only hope that he's in Heaven and that I'll see him there some day.
Love you Nico.
Well it has definitely been awhile. I sure have been busy over the past few months with life issues and school. Lets start from the top.
-Since mid-February school has consumed most of my life. With the exception of Fridays, Saturdays, and most of last week, I have spent about 6-10 hours per night on homework in addition to school and 10 hours of work every week. This doesn't even include the days on the weekend when I have been called in for snow removal on campus. The extra money is nice, but the work... well not so much.
-In addition, on February 26th, 2013 tragedy struck as the life of my close friend and colleague Nico Osorio came to a tragic end. This was very difficult to deal with, and I still am dealing with this loss. The Monday following his death, I had gone to his funeral with a group of my friends who also were his. This was a sad event, but I believe it did help out as I was able to grieve with others who knew him well. The worst part about this was that I had thought he committed suicide; however, I found out this weekend that he actually had a seizure. While this doesn't take away from the pain that he's gone, it does give me some closure to know that he didn't die by choice but rather by chance. I'm still hurting emotionally from his loss and it's going to hurt for awhile. That's all I have to say about that.
-On a bit of positive news, I'm an uncle for the 3rd time as my new nephew Mack entered this world on March 6th. He's been having some trouble with his O2 levels and with eating so he is still in the hospital. But, we're all hopeful and praying that he'll get better and he has been getting better. It's looking like he'll soon be out, and the family's still praying for that.
-Last week I found out I was accepted to the NAPIRE program in Costa Rica and will be living in Costa Rica for 2 months over the summer. This is excellent news since I had missed some other application deadlines and wasn't too hopeful of getting this one. I also get to spend 2 months studying biodiversity in the tropics! So exciting.
That's about it. Otherwise, I'm just looking forward to Spring Break.
