a long time ago in a suburb far, far away...

When I was about five years old my family moved from one suburb in Chicago to another about fifteen minutes over. It was just far enough for me to have to switch schools, and so I knew I'd have to make new friends. I remember the day I looked over from my new backyard to another and saw two boys about my age playing in a sandbox... Mike Gallo and Scott Kaderabek.

I had on a cheap Superman Halloween outfit that I'd saved from last year... because sometimes you just need a little extra edge. Wearing plastic hero gear always does that when you're five... especially the kind that has the hard plastic mask (when did Superman ever wear a mask?) that had 1/8 inch slits that would cut into your eyelids while the cheap rubber band compressed your face into it (and the staples holding the rubber band together gnawed their way into your earlobes).

Yes... I have baggage.

Anyway, what happened in the moments that followed has been replayed over the years with all the drama that great epics seem to have.

(cue intense music, "da da dum...")

Me: "Hi! Do you guys want to be
friends?"

Mike: (turns around and slugs me in the stomach)

Scott: (gasps)

Over the years, Scott would serve as mediator to the infamous Myles/Gallo wars... Mike and I would fight over dumb stuff that boys often fight over. Often I'd feel Mike was a bit of a bully while I'm sure he felt I was often a bit of a nuisance who egged him on. Our parents would get involved, our dogs had a fight or two, and somehow Scott tried to be both of our "best friends."

The one thing we'd all temporarily bond over, though, was Star Wars. The three of us each had at least one official Hasbro Star Wars blaster and some knock-off version of a lightsaber that would keep us plenty busy chasing each other around in the yard. Good times... especially when I'd get to be Luke Skywalker (until I realized Han got Leia and began wanting to be him instead).

In high school we bonded a bit more when some drunk kids jumped us in a crab apple filled parking lot. If I recall, it was because they pulled up, said something rather demeaning, and I picked up and threw a crab apple at their car out of anger. Keep in mind they were well on their way out of the parking lot, a good fifty feet away... and for some odd reason, it was the first time in my life when I threw something that I actually hit it. Granted, it was the worst time for it to happen, and Mike and I walked away fine. Scott, on the other hand, ended up with a hole in his head that at the time seemed about the size of a football... which makes me wonder why I only gave him a small wash cloth to dab the blood away.

We had some good laughs commiserating at our freshman lunch table about it, and then for some reason we separated again... Scott moved down to Missouri and Mike and I started running in different high school relationship circles. Then I moved out of the neighborhood, and later on so did he.

Time passed.

This past September, I joined Facebook. Then in his neck of the south, Scott did, too. Somewhere in California, Mike decided to create an account of his own. I'm not sure how, but we all found each other. Turns out Scott is recently married while Mike has been (get this...) working for everyone from Lucasarts to Sega as a game designer (yeah, the guy actually hung out at the Skywalker Ranch).

Right now we're battling it out on Facebook's "Jedi vs Sith" application, and I couldn't be happier than a 9-year old girl about her new Hanna Montana notebook.

Isn't it funny? Some things never change, and some things do, and sometimes those things that never change help bring back together the things that do.