Please play Times of Trouble in Milwaukee for Guido

JB109352
JB109352 Posts: 45
in The Porch
I know there is no chance this will happen as its not a PJ song and this will never get to the band but I have to get some shit off my chest and haven't been able to do it anywhere else. My best friend "Guido" and I have known each other since kindergarten. We each would have been 40 early next year. We were lifelong best friends. We played football together in high school, double dated for prom, etc. After high school I went to college and he didn't but we stayed close. Every summer I went back home (Door County WI) to work for the summer, think tourist trap where everybody works in the service industry. A little shop, restaurant, state park etc. We shared a love for Pearl Jam and saw them together a few times. Went to Alpine Valley in 1998 and completely randomly ran into him at Summerfest in 2006? when they played with Tom Petty. Guido stood up in mine and my wife's wedding. He was a big guy, the type of guy who always finished the fights I started with my big mouth ;) And he never would hesitate to put somebody else's welfare before his own. Shirt off his back kind of guy. I first noticed there might be some sort of problem when I met up with him to see the rebooted AIC in Milwaukee about six years ago. He had back issues and had developed a severe prescription drug issue. Vicoden or whatever he could get. By the time we met up with other mutual friends for a Packer game around Christmas in 2012 it seemed like he had gotten over it. He didn't really drink much anymore and said he was done with the painkillers. Maybe he was I don't know. I didn't see him a lot since then, I had a family and career in banking which keeps me very busy and I live four hours away near Madison, WI. As far as I knew Guido was still up in Door County doing his thing. We still spoke at least a couple times a year on his birthday and mine. His was March 1st and I am the 31st. This past year I didn't call him and we never connected in March. Oh well I thought, fuck it I can give him a call when I get the chance. Unfortunately that chance never came. It was too late. I got a call around midnight from a buddy who now lives in Detroit on April 9th. Guido's stepdad had gone downstairs in their home and found him with a needle still in his arm. He had overdosed. An autopsy had found heroin and prescription meds in his system. I know it is not the case but I can't help but think if I had stayed closer with him maybe I could have helped him, maybe I could have done something to prevent it. I still think of him every day and visit his facebook page regularly. Just about every morning since last spring I wake up to Times of Trouble on my phone. Its a beautiful song about the pain somebody like Guido was in. Anyway, thanks for whoever takes the time to read my rambling thoughts. Heroin fucking kills people so don't do it and get help if you need it! I will be thinking of Guido on the 20th. See you in Milwaukee.

"Miles"

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