Andy Pandy

I never thought I'd get such an awful call as I did last Thursday. The day had been going great, I was in an unusually happy mood. I spent the morning running errands and soaking up the beautiful spring weather. The day was perfect.

Then I got the call saying that one of my good friends had died. I was devastated, destroyed, confused. I still am.

Andy was the last person who deserved this. He didn't always make the best decisions, but he always had the right intentions. Never did I see him in a bad mood. He always had a smile on his face and mischief in his eyes. I remember when we stayed up all night after junior prom, writing on people's faces who had falling asleep and stealing their belongings. It was all stupid stuff, but that's what we were best at. It is a night that I'll remember forever, not because it was "prom", but because it was a great fucking time.

I could always count on Andy to have fun with me and make me laugh. In high school we used to joke about the old "We Believe" posters that had a giant drawing of a green alien face on them. They were popular around 1996, about the same time as Dr Seuss hats, hackey sacks, and ying yang symbols-- the kind of crap you'd love to win from the arcade down the shore. We never stopped finding that stuff hilarious. Just weeks before his death, I had left him a message on his facebook wall saying "we believe". It was the last thing I said to him.

I wish I had taken more time to hang out with Andy these past few months, taken the time to do stupid shit and just have fun. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it's just that I thought there'd be more time. We always think there'll be more time. What I wouldn't give now to hear one of his trademark pranks calls or have him sneak up behind me and scare the living bejesus out of me. Luckily, this weekend I was able to catch up with a lot of people I don't often see. I was especially happy to see a lot of our classmates from CHA. I was so incredibly proud of all those boys that day. All of them there together, I finally realized how much they've grown up and what good guys they are. Eli, Mikey, Mike, and Drew gave incredible speeches. Others flew in from all over, taken time out from finals, just to be there. I had plenty of terrible things to say about CHA boys in high school, some of them probably well deserved, but I was so happy to have them in my life this past weekend. Like Andy, they were there to help me smile when I really needed it.

I hope that if there is one thing good that can come out of this, that Andy's death will remind all of us to keep in touch. We say all the time that we'll catch up, but we tend to let our reunions drag out or get delayed by other plans. I know its not easy to get together all the time but, I hope we start living up to our promises just a little more, because you never realize how much you want to see someone until you no longer have the chance.






R.I.P
Andrew David Hyman
May 9, 1985- Apr. 19, 2006
We love you and miss you