An Amazing Friend, in Good Times and Bad

It’s taken about 28 hours for me to know what to say but here goes…

Dan you were an amazing friend … you were there for me in so many good times and bad … always organically. Never forced.

We basically got thrown together because of our relationships with Aaron and Dwoskin and we were able to bond over our love of basketball and Madden.

I’ll never forget you showing up in the middle of the day to my parents’ house the week of my dad’s shiva and saying “get dressed, we are going to a movie”… just knowing that escaping for 2 hours was exactly what I needed.

You gave me a place to live just after that and we had amazing times together in Royal Oak. I still remember us cackling like kindergartners watching the first episode of South Park.

In the middle of the first summer of my life since 6 years old that I wasn’t playing any organized baseball or softball, you called me to come play in a playoff game and that turned in to just an incredible decade plus of great games and tremendous laughs with a great group of guys.

We were fortunate enough to somehow accidentally both end up working for the Pistons and enjoyed 7 seasons of tremendous games and one incredible championship season.

Our Vegas trips were the stuff of legend and stories that are still told to this day …your dating stories sitting in the schvitz, being yelled at by Anthony’s mom, you and I passing out on the Rock girls’ villa patio, $3.99 breakfasts at the Golden Gate ... a plant that somehow ended up in the elevator lobby.

When your condo became our married-guy dream home with poker games and rock band parties, it was majorly fun times.

And then maybe most important over the last year living here with us, how much you became close with my wife and treated her like you always treated me — plus taking care of my dogs like they were your own.

There’s countless other things I’m sure I could list because we always had something we could connect on whether as simple as a stupid movie (PCU for example) or as complicated as life changes we needed support with … but you were always there for me selflessly and I will miss you more than I can express.

Rest in peace