I first met Paul at a party out in the country, I had been hanging out with his girlfriend a bit after just moving to a new town. I had just moved down to start snowboarding after being a dedicated surfer, long hair and all… A group of big rugby players turned up uninvited and due to my long hair I immediately became a target for harassment. Just before it got physical Paul and anther guy who I had only just met stepped right up and had my back and the rugby heads backed off before anything got started…That was Paul down to a T….hated to see people get picked on…
I saw him around town occasionally over the next 2 years and he lived with one of my friends so we kicked it a bit when I went around hanging out and finding Paul to be a super friendly easy-going person who liked to get wild when we went out on the town. He new every single quote from every Simpson’s episode ever shown and could literally talk along through any episode…
He was right at the scene of the third car accident I was in where I bashed my head…he saw it all happen and was the first person to check and see if I was ok..
2 years later I moved in with Paul and his younger brother 3 years later into the most Notorious house in town. Affectionately known as “Jackson Hole” both because it was on Jackson Street, as well as being a shi*theap…. Raw sewerage poured out onto our lawn at least 3 times over the winter next to our outdoor bathroom and it was always a little funny to see turds floating across the lawn, not to mention the time it was -12 inside the house when we woke up one morning…Paul laughed his way through it all…He tried to give up smoking weed rather sucessfully that season, much to many peoples surprise and I was there to help him out and give him support when he needed it…. He was always being screwed around by some girl and it usually did his head in…he just needed someone to talk to and get shi*t off his head sometimes….
He had my back when someone climbed into our yard and a scuffle broke out between the two of us…and I had his whenever the locals decided to push him around…Paul was always a skinny dude…
Paul was always generous at the bar, that’s probably why he worked two jobs, to pay for all the drinks he bought everyone…..Paul worked at a fiberglass workshop making gliders and boats for a wage that most lefties would laugh at…he was a skilled worker who worked hard and seldom complained….only about the radio station he had to listen to when he was there….he would come home stinking of fumes and head straight out to his second job as a kitchen hand 20 minutes later…..I would always tell him he should save his money up and go overseas where his skills would be appreciated and rewarded, i.e.…he could make some fat cash…
I convinced him to try snowboarding and he loved it, learning super fast, he was more stoked than I was when I learnt McTwists and backflips…
Me, Paul and my older brother Josh hung out together a lot that season and Paul became like another brother to me….I still remember when Josh caught him on video camera dancing in the mirror to an Usher video clip trying to learn some moves and we laughed our asses off at him……Paul always loved dancing at the bars…occasionally with speed or E in his system....In fact...he was pretty damned slick at it too!
I moved over to Canada at the end of that winter and Paul finally saved up enough cash to go to Australia…I never saw him much after that, I would get a few e-mails from him and he called me a few times over the next year…he would always tell me how well his job was going for the first year, he was making carbon fiber parts for Formula one cars, going out and partying all the time, hooking up with super-hot chicks….and starting to pop back the A-Class….
He came back for a visit two winters later and was looking even skinnier than usual and really vacant..... it felt weird to me hanging out with him and seeing him like that so I didn’t make many efforts after that to contact him or even send him a quick e-mail…That was probably when he needed it most...
Paul’s Step dad was stabbed to death in front of Paul’s mother and her two children at a barbeque two years ago….I was overseas at the time but my Father told me Paul was starting to look really skinny and gaunt….as usual Paul was super stoked to find out how I was doing and what I was up to….
Before I came back to Canada this season, I found Paul’s 21st invitation mixed in with all my stuff….It still made me laugh “everybody else but Sam is invited to my birthday” and a little “I’ll see you there” written at the bottom…….That was a great night out and we all got incredibly drunk….
At 10.30 last night I got a call from my dad……
“Sam, I’ve got some bad news…….Paul VanderKlei collapsed on a Sydney dance floor last night and Died….I'm sorry......”
……Paul always did like to dance........
I was in a state of shock for the next hour and then it hit me hard…..
They don’t know before doing an autopsy what killed Paul….but I have a pretty good idea already…….
Rest in Peace Paul….You were a good friend to me, always there when I needed you and you were like a brother to me once…..I wish I could have been there for you….
My thoughts go out to his mother Maxine, who has lost a Husband and a son in the space of two years…..
Paul was 25 years old….
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Published by sammym: 10:36 PM
Updated On: 4/22/2006 at 10:47 PM
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