"Everything changed" is an overused cliche...we heard it after we graduated from both high school and college, we heard it after September 11th, we even hear it when our friends start to get married. Most of the time it is overblown. After a few days or weeks, things generally return to normal. Change is subtle, gradual, not something that one day can dictate. At least that is what I believed before I was told that Nick Reinhart had died. Now our innocence is gone, our invincibility shaken, and we will forever have to live with a new sense of what "normal" is.
Nick was my first good friend in college. We both liked the Rockets (Nick was a HUGE Clyde Drexler fan) so that seemed like enough of a foundation to build a friendship on. Within the first two months of meeting Nick, he:
- Convinced me that it was a good idea to recruit a group of people we didn't know and drive to San Antonio, at midnight, the Saturday before classes start,
- Struggled with his faith when deciding what to do with Boobie, Simos's dog, after finding a puddle in his sandals that he had left in Simos's living room,
- Sold me on the idea of driving 19 hours, each way, to visit his then-girlfriend...over a four day break....in my beat-up old truck...that was a stick shift...that he didn't know how to drive. But I taught him well enough that he only left a little bit of my transmission somewhere in Kentucky.
I was one of the messengers that passed along the tragic news to some of Nick's numerous friends. Each person I called had the same reaction...first they thought I was playing some cruel joke, then they went silent. Before each person hung up, they said some variation of "Nick is the last person that I thought something like this could happen to." And I agreed. Nick was so vibrant, so absolutely full of life. He was a lightning bolt of energy, electrifying everything and everyone who he touched. Nick had the kind of strong faith, sense of ethics, and loyalty to his friends that I can only wish to find within myself someday.
Nick, everything about you will be missed...you sense of humor, your spontaneity, your trademark "Zero Warning Entry". Each one of us is better for having known you. We love you dearly.