Houston would always bug me to be his partner for physics PROMISING he would do the work (which he would never do and make me do all of it) and not fall asleep or talk the whole time, haha! Each time I would let him because I mean come on, it's Houston! One day we are doing a "projectile motion" lab where we used nerf guns to shoot how far they went and how fast they went, etc. I would make Houston go get us a new gun everytime, and somehow he thought it was funny to get the one that barely worked. Each time you would touch the trigger lightly, it would shoot. I remember the first two times I said, "Look bud. We gotta be serious here. Let's just get the data first and then we can have fun with the nerf guns". That didn't last. Every time I would barely touch the gun, it would go off and Houston got mad the first few times, but then we couldn't take it anymore and just decided it was hilarious and we wouldn't stop laughing. It was the best memory, because we laughed SO hard that day feeling like we were going to explode from it. I can still remember that day perfectly.
I also remember the day he came back after his surgery from his appendix being taken out. That was also a great day. He wanted to be my partner and of course I let him, knowing he had been so far behind and needed some help. We were in a group with two other smart kids, while we just sat back and talked. His voice was raspy from a tube he had, he said. So he decided to get his voice back in that 90 minute class period by talking NON-STOP to me. He talked about Maggie and how much he loved her, he talked about Disney World and how he would love to go back, showing me the pictures of his turkey legs, telling me his diet one of the days in Disney (man he can eat a lot) haha, and just being such a sweetheart and trying to "woo" me over with his stories and how he was such a great guy. You could tell he had a sense of realness; he wasn't the guy who tried to fit in with everyone,
he was a friend to everyone he met and never said one thing negative toward anybody.
Houston, I miss you so much! I wonder what would be happening if we both were in that class still. We'd probably fail but it's okay, because knowing you was one of the best things in my life, HANDS DOWN. I love you and I know you are totally safe now, whether you are eating turkey legs or you're singing in Jesus' choir now. You are always going to be in my heart, and I thank your wonderful parents for raising you to never be judgmental, and acting so truthful and kind to me when I felt like no one else did.