Yes, my friend Dave Smith (trust me, there are many Dave Smith's in this world) also goes by the nickname Wave. Before beginning my tribute to this good friend of mine, I will share a little history of his nickname. From what I remember, the nickname actually came from an Asian girl that he knew back when we were at Southern Connecticut State University together. This Asian girl, whose name I never knew, incessantly called my buddy Dave, Wave. Having a natural humor and silliness to him, Dave adopted the name because he found it hilarious that every time she saw him and called him Wave, she would also wave her hand in greeting. Stupid humor, yes, but it stuck and to this day, Dave's close cadre of friends still refer to him as Wave. But enough about his nickname and on to the substance of who Dave is and why I feel the need to pay tribute to him. To sum it up, Dave is about as selfless as an individual gets, as long as he has free time to be selfless. No matter who needs his help, family, friend, or stranger, he will go out of his way to help that person. Even just recently, in the midst of redoing our kitchen and mentioning when we were going to start ripping it apart, Dave immediately volunteered his help to demolish. I didn't ask for his help, he just threw it out there. I have also seen him leave a job he was helping me on to drive a half hour away because one of his friend's cars broke down and needed a ride. Its simply who Dave is, he gives more of himself than he asks for. Not that he doesn't ask for help, he does, but compared to the times that he helps others, he mostly goes life alone.
I have had many great times with Dave, most memorably when I traveled to Italy when he was studying abroad there. I went just to visit and spend two weeks with him traveling the country. We drank fantastic wine, ate fantastic food, and drove places that most people would never even think of visiting. Perhaps the best part of the trip in Italy was our circumnavigation by car of Sicily. Starting and ending in Palermo, we drove the coast of that fantastic Mediterranean island, eating and drinking our way through. The most amazing part of that was that we managed to do it all in three days. Through that drive, the entire trip in Italy, and the other times we spent together stateside, I got to know Dave really well. Perhaps what Dave is known best for, besides his selflessness, is his ridiculous humor, and I mean ridiculous in the best way possible. He has a way of turning any situation into something humorous. Whether it be laughing at himself, which he has no problem doing, or simply acting silly to elicit a laugh, any time spent with Dave is sure to have humor in the sidecar for the ride. There is also a side to Dave that is serious, that yearns for some sort of meaning in life, and as such, is not one to settle in one place, or one job for that long. Granted, he has "lived" in Connecticut for quite some time now, but it has never been constant. In the midst of jumping from job to job, his longest stint maybe lasting a little over a year, he has been known to just up and take off, traveling wherever he wants or needs to at a given time. The last such excursion/transition, was over the summer. I had called him to ask for a hand with a project at my house and he informed me that he was leaving his job and going on tour with a Katie Perry in two days, his new job. I wasn't surprised by any means, I just knew that Dave was off and away again, sure to come back at some point in time.
To me, Dave can be most likened to a character from Jack Kerouac's "On the Road", the tale of wandering souls, traveling the country, never quite settling down, and never quite finding what they are looking for. But I love him for it, he wouldn't be the Dave I know without that quixotic side to him. When he does wander back to Connecticut, sometimes staying longer than others, I enjoy nothing more than hearing his stories of being on the road, his journeys through the United States, and the people he has met along the way. Maybe one day Dave will find what he is looking for, and figure out where in life he is meant to be, and then again maybe not. Both he and I know, though, that the most important thing is to take it one day at a time. He will be the first to admit that he has no plan, doesn't know where he will be a week or a month from now, but he is the type of person who can adjust instantaneously and move on. Nothing is sacred, and yet everything is sacred to him. He has deep ties to his family, ones that I think even he often times doesn't realize, and I think that is part of what keeps him coming back. His family means the world to him and whenever they need help, he is there to help him. Beneath his wanderlust, his eternal searching, there is a bond with his family that nothing can break. It is rare to find that kind of bond in people these days, especially in some of the people that I know. That, perhaps more than anything else, is why I hold a deep respect for Dave, wherever he goes and whatever he does. To Dave, may you find one day what you are searching for (even though you don't know what it is) and to many shots of grappa on the road. Cheers bro!
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