Memoirs of David James
You know how you see black and white kids or pictures of black and white kids. Playing and full of joy, smiling not seeing any diff in each other, not yet realizing they are different colors and all that truly mattered was their companionship they have found in their friend. That was us. David and Stanley and my Brother Ben and Me Roberto.. David and Stanley were more then friends, they were our brothers, didn't matter who the parents were.. Didn't matter the color, we were.... We ARE, brothers..
Now we go way back, David and Stanley were in a thing my mom put on that was kinda like boys scouts but it was called campfire.. I was the youngest. We would do fun things and make things but you had to wear red. Idk why and I never heard of any other kids ever doing this group thing so I still don't know to this day if it was made up. Lol my parents got divorced between 1st and 2nd grade and David and Stanley was always there to help us get through that.. They were mine and my brother Ben's best friends.. I remember as a kid crying into David's shoulders and him telling me it will be ok on more then one occasion for many years and for many different reasons, Stanley too. Soon after my parents divorced, my brother and I had to become a shoulder for David and Stanley for the passing of their mother.. And our bond deepened every time we had to overcome obstacles in life.
I want to make peace.. And explain how David was loved.. I hope that will bring peace to me and to his family and friends. He changed people's lives for the better. I know that I'm a better man now because I knew David James.
David James.. I don't know one single person David has ever wronged.. But if there was one, lord knows they deserved it.. And probably deserved a lot worse then what David had done to them..
When we were young we rode the bus up to the Puyallup fair. Ben and Stanley couldn't go. Im pretty sure they were in trouble for something.. I'll never forget that year at the fair. David and I did that huge slingshot! That big ball thing. I think I was in 5th grade and David 7th. Things were different back then.. They let elementary kids on the bus and do dangerous rides without blinking an eye lol.. They probably thought David was older because of his height lol. I remember we were walking by the slingshot and being asked if we wanted to go on. I remember replying "how much?" And the ride coordinator responding, "how much you got?" After some more exchanges we somehow got convinced to go on.. We were probably just to young and didn't know how to say no.. So here we are now. David and I strapped into this metal round cage looking at each other like, "how did we get into this?!!" Lol.. We were extremely freaking outi!! We would look at each other, eyes wide as can be, and told each other, "love you man." Then we shot up with every muscle spasming in our bodies and uncontrollably laughing until it was over.. I'll never forget that. We were some brave ass kids. Then we spent the next 4 plus hours hiding from the heat looking at animals, watching shows, walking around booths, spent a long time where the jacuzzi's were. Wetting our faces with the cool water until they told us to leave, and finding things that didn't cost money because we spent every dollar we had on the slingshot lol.. We didn't even have money to ride the bus home so we waited till his dad Charles got off to take us home. On that ride home Charles gave us piroshki's. It was my first time eating them and they instantly became one of my favorite foods and I still eat them to this day. Thank you Charles 😋
Man I remember my first memories of me imagining things took place in David and Stanley's back yard. They had really really tall grass when we were really young and I would love going over there and pretending we were in war or had to fight bad guys and I remember in that time, and in that magical back yard, it felt real.. I got sad when they finally cut their grass. And when I would step on a Shiva Landmine.. Lol..
My brother Ben, I don't think loved anyone more than David. If there was a person my brother Ben would do anything for, it would be David.. No questions asked.
I would see David every now and again walking from or to the old house and could spot him walking a mile away. I would quickly pick him up and give him rides and it would always be a happy time. And I would leave him with my heart smiling..
David and Stanley was our first introduction to hardcore rap.. Funny we didn't really know what they were really talking about back then but it sounded cool and the beats we intriguing. We would try to decrypt the lyrics together.
I remember trying to memorized funkdified by dabrat and jay D.. Lol.
Pretty sure we boxed a couple times.. He was stronger than he looked.. He had hands..
I remember playing hide and go seek tag around the neighborhood. Hide and seek in the old yellow PLU building in the dark.. I was always scared. I can admit that now. I was the youngest so I feel it's justified.. Also Playing Tag on bikes going through random peoples yards.
I remember playing baseball at the Grange on 113th. Felt like the real life Sandlot.. Anytime it snowed we immediately called everyone we could around the neighborhood for football games.. Always played street football in front David and Stanley's house. We also constantly played basketball tournaments. I like to believe that, I'm pretty sure remembering, (but probably not true) me winning all the time. 😉
We would always scrounge up change to get lil Ceasar's breadsticks from 112th street by the repo store and share them. They were so good.. I think it was less then $2 for crazy bread and sauce.
I was always the worst one at video games. I remember David and Stanley's game room.. Next to the living room. Playing in the dark for hours.. No body wanted to be on my team lol.. Oh and the smell of their house.. I'd never forget that smell.. It became a comfort smell to me. And the smell of their dog shiva too.. Loved it..
I remember around the beginning of my 5th grade at James sales. David, Stanley and my brother went to Keithley Middle School. Felt like they left me.. It was a rough year without them at school with me. David and Stanley would come over to our house early and they would walk to Keithley middle school together. I would sometimes wake up early so I could hang out just a little bit before they went to school.. Ben, I remember, would occasionally ask me to pretend to sleep and when they came over he would put shaving cream on my hand and tickle my nose.. I would play along pretending I didn't know what was going on.. Dragging it out to make them full of anticipation. I would play with them and use my other hand to scratch my nose, build up suspense until, boom.. Face plant my hand covering my face with shaving cream and hearing them bust up laughing and giggling dashing out the house. Then I would get up and wash my face. I'm sure the James brothers never knew that I was doing it purposely lol.. It was well worth it to hear the laughter from my bro's though.. Sorry Ben the cats out of the bag 😉
The day after I heard about David's passing I could not stop thinking about all the times we had. I felt like I had to write them down because I was scared I would forget them. And I never wanted to forget them. So these are some of them that I decided to share to show that David was a fun loving guy, a Sports guy, a guy who cared for his friends, a guy who was sometimes shy, sometimes quiet, a guy who would always smile when he saw you, and David was a guy who was LOVED by everyone that ever got the chance to know him. My boy David was loved.... We had so much fun together as kids and seeing him as an adult, he was probably the nicest guy I knew.
It must be true that the good die young. Must be.. He was one of my most favorite persons and one of the best persons I knew.. I regret not spending as much time as we did as kids in the years after school. Our hearts are broken with you leaving but I know your in peace. Love you bro!
God has another Angel.
❤️ Roberto Overby Rosales
