Todd and Dave
One the first times I met Todd, he had sun-bleached streaky hair,
wore camo shorts and was very loud. Todd was the source of many
stories among my good friends Jeff and Garry. Somewhat enigmatic
and sometimes nearly fictional, Todd has been the source of many
folktales in my life. Once, while Todd was faxing his resume to
Camp Iawah, applying to work with the ILT program for the
summer, another mutual friend named Chuck snuck into the office
where Todd was faxing and shot Todd (and his resume) with a
watergun from across the room. The blast of water caused the
resume to rip in half while faxing, ultimately only sending half of
Todd's credentials to Camp IAWAH. Another time, when Todd
and his housemate Dave had a seedy downtown Kingston house
together, someone broke into the house while Todd was asleep
and stole his wallet. He woke up several hours later. Another time,
my friend Mark drove me all the way from Guelph to Kingston
in the middle of the night. We landed in Kingston at 3 am and
picked up Jeff (who in his sleepy state mistook me for 'Jesus') who
proceeded to call Todd to invite him out for breakfast. The four
of us ate a greasy breakfast at Lino's (which was shut down
some years ago probably due to mafia problematics) and then
dropped Todd off at his house. Todd woke up the next morning,
already an hour late for a three hour exam. He biked to the
exam with all of his might (in late december) and still managed
to do well, having only written for less than 2 of 3 possible
exam hours.
Another time, when Garry, Brad and I were introducing Todd
to Camp IAWAH, the three of us helped do dishes for a retreat
in late May. Todd put toiletscrew covers (you know those
white plugs at the bottoms of old toilets that cover the bolts)
over his eyes and screamed completely ridiculous phrases at
retreat guests from our window in the old staff building
(Derbyshire). He yelled things like "QUIT MAKING NOISE!!
CAN'T YOU SEE, I CAN'T SLEEP?? MY EYES WON'T
CLOSE!!" and "I'M BLIND!! YOUR NOISE HAS MADE
ME BLIND!!" along with other phrases to that effect even
though the guests outside our window were making very little
noise at all.
That summer, in 1998, Todd got in more trouble than most bad
campers...and he was a leader. Another time, after Todd had
hooked upwith his then-girlfriend-now-wife Chelsea, a group
of 6 or 7 of us (including Charn, Richka, one or two of the
Heathers, Todd, Chels and I) were having dessert at the
Sleepless Goat. I was going through a hard time in my
Christian life with everyone in my community talking about and
debating the topic of Calvinism (count yourself as blessed if
you know nothing about it). Todd offered me some wisdom
and encouragement in that area. He said to re-consider the
sincerity of Calvin followers in the sense that John Calvin actually
burned people at the stake. Todd then claimed to hear bees
buzzing in his head (He had drank about 5 or 6 coffee refills).
Todd also often claimed he had Polio in the mornings and had
caught it over night. Todd used to pretend he was a ghost when
the lights were off by covering himself in a sheet. Todd also
used to claim that there were 'animals in his drinking water'.
Todd spent much of his years at Queens, though, with a sidekick.
Todd was rarely referred to without the naming of 'Dave' and it
was like this from the beginning of my knowing him. Dave B was
a tall Dutchman who, though quiet at times, had a wildside that
was triggered by Todd. Though I never got to know Dave all
that intently, we have managed to keep in touch over the years
and he is a regular blogger on my list (fungineer.blogspot.com).
I feel like I did get to know Dave, however, through the proxy
of Todd and my other Kingston friends. One of my fondest
memories involving myself, Todd and Dave was a day in Kingston
where I spent a full afternoon and evening with the two of them at
their old seedy downtown house. The day involved playing
massive amounts of Atari 2600 (in their Atari loft which was a
seperate upper floor of the house that was dedicated to old school
gaming), making and eating Reuben sandwiches (the ingredients
of which Todd's mom had just left for him the day before) and
something that involved takingpictures in their bathroom with a
maxipad stuck somewhere on my body. All I really remember
about that incident was Dave laughing silently, into beet-red
colour, with his shoulders shaking. Todd was always more of
a giggler. I appreciated Dave and the role he has played in Todd's
life...and I hope he knows that...even though I don't fully know all
that it encompassed.
One time, in the spring of 98, Todd was living in Ottawa and
working at Yogen Fruz. He wasn't too sure about going to Iawah
for the summer anymore and even if he should visit for a weekend.
He was starting to feel uncertainty about his life and was feeling
pulled in many directions. I'm not a super-spiritual person by ANY
stretch, but for some reason I felt compelled to call my new friend
and tell him something that was heavy on my heart -
I called Todd one night and told him he needed to be at Iawah for
the upcoming weekend and for that whole summer, not because I
wanted him there, but because God did. That sort of thing has only
happened to me a handful of times. I felt awkward considering I
was just starting to get to know Todd. I still don't fully know why
I called him and told him that to this day. He did, however, go to
Iawah that summer...and ended up meeting his wife.
I don't take any sort of credit for what happened and I never will.
That same sort of thing happened to me (except Iwas on the
recipient end) in Halifax after my friend Mark's wedding in June of
99. Mark's pastor (who seemed to be an incredibly genuine and
honest guy) approached me after Mark's wedding, after having
had only one conversation with me over the course of a weekend.
He said "Matt - I feel like I have to tell you something" and you
could tell he was embarassed.He proceeded to tell me to 'stop
worrying and stop running' and that 'God had never left me' and
that 'God wanted me to come home to Him'. Though initially
weirded out, after walking away from the pastor in the banquet
hall on the campus of King's College in Halifax, I began to see
how much those words really applied to me at that point in my life.
I'm glad that man approached me, even though he must have felt
super awkward about it.
Today, I consider Todd to be an invaluable friend. He has always
had a wisdom beyond his years and any chance I have had to pick
his brain, I've taken. Though we weren't in each other's wedding
parties and are not best friends, he is a dynamic revolutionary who
loves without limits and I'm blessed to know him. He once blogged
about me, while he and Chels were in Korea, and it made me weep.
'Never be afraid to say the things that you think should be said.'
Blessings T-Hawk.
