I only ever crossed paths with Dustin over the summer visiting him at work at that sports shop in westhills (it's been so long I can't believe I'm blanking on the name), but at the time as a social, ambitious 15 year old, he was like the definition of THE coolest guy, exactly the kind of guy I wanted to be when I started high school.
I've shared this story with Dustin's family in the past but something happened just yesterday that was so profound I felt the need to share it.
One of the first times I met Dustin in 2011, he gave me a deal on a bunch of different generic, cool, colored hoodies made by a very specific brand that I barely see around anymore.
I gave them to my brother as a gift, and he had a color for almost every day of the week. He LIVED in them, and had those hoodies until just a few years ago until they were borderline unsanitary.
All this time has passed, and I've since moved many cities and now live in Brooklyn. To this day I have not seen another one of those hoodies anywhere, but sure enough, at a thrift store in Brooklyn LITERALLY YESTERDAY, I found the exact one I bought my brother. It immediately brought me back to that moment, and I now own a new favourite hoodie.
I feel a little out of place here as this space is full of people that knew Dustin so well, whereas I only got to know the tip of the iceberg so I do not mean to impose, but I wanted to share this as I met him in such an impressionable time in my life and yesterday I felt like he just tapped on my shoulder and said hello.
Sending my love to Laura and the family through this terribly sad day, but that your son is still out there making an impression on what I'm sure is a countless amount of people through his spirit, myself included.