Long Road For Justin in Oakland N1
I'm an only child but I had and will always regard Justin Doucet as my brother. We became inseperable playing little league when we were seven years old. I wasn't very good so when I miraculously cought a fly ball in right field, Justin led the rest of the boys in the dougout onto the field to lift me up Bad News Bears style. In middle school, we were the self proclaimed "Psychic Brothers" because we would finish eatch other's sentences. We both had addiction in our dna and started blackout drinking at the age of eleven. His mother died of cancer when we were in fifth grade and I had my own trauma to self medicate over. When we were fourteen, Justin moved to Texas. Shortly thereafter, I hit bottom and was luckily forced into an adolescent treatment center in Oakland. My sobriety date is May 18th 1992 so I'll have 30 years next Wednesday. However, Justin drank himself to death at the age of thirty two. Our last text exchange included the lyrics from a song written by a sober hardcore band we loved called "The Sick."
Justin: You and I we are bullett proof...
Me: You and I we are united...
Justin: All along I knew what you were thinking. We are...
Me & Justin: FRIENDS FOR LIFE
The best part of our lives were the five plus years he was sober. Justin cited Mike McCready as one of the most insperational men in his sober community in Long beach. Mike was one of Justin's music heros who he looked up to which made cleaning up more attractive. We fell for PJ in October of 1991. We use to go to Ledbetter beach in Santa Barbara at night in the summer and stand in the water singing and playing air guitars/drums to the first album. He would always make a mix CD just for us for each weekend he would spend up here with me. Just always put it in the car and cranked the volume as soon as I picked him up at the airport. My favorite pictures of him are with my daughter when she was a baby. They made each other very happy. Now, my daughter's going to Seattle University.
Justin lives in PJ music. We've watched vhs bootlegs of every PJ Lalapalooza set. Most of the times I think of him I tear up. Other times in the car, I think of how he would headbut me in the shoulder while I was driving to bother me. That makes me smile. In 2006 in San Diego the band played Long Road after Ed told this moving story about finding out when Clayton Ligget passed away. I know what it's like to get that call. Amazing performance. Justin loved that version too. I played it at his memorial. I love how the song has become the band's way to honor people who have passed.
I made a sign and would be grateful if they played it tomorrow night. If so, I will be cry singing. Luckily we'll be wearing masks. If that doesn't fit in the setlist that's great too. He'll be with me. I'll be visualizing Justin playing air drums. He was so good at that. As Ed said when he spoke about Clayon: "Thanks for listening."
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/statesman/name/justin-doucet-obituary?id=23646454
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