Andy.

I met Andy shortly after high school about 15 years ago so he’s been a part of my life for about half the time I’ve been alive. Back in the day we would see each other at parties events, he’d visit me at the record shop I owned on Church Street or I’d run into him when he was out skateboarding; and over the years we got to know each other and steadily became friends. Andy and I started out in a way that most of my closest friends today did; we were influenced by the hip-hop of the 90’s, and by music in general. I had realized around the time that I met Andy that being involved with the music scene was who I was; and from that early realization came some of the best, and longest-lasting friendships I’ve ever had. My music career began 15 years ago through being an event promoter, a DJ, and a record shop owner; that which eventually evolved into the DJ store that I still operate to this day…and every single aspect of that 15 year journey involved Andy. He DJ’d at the events I was promoting, he shopped at my record store, he DJ’d alongside me at Red Square every single Saturday for the past 5 years, and the more I got to know him as a fellow musician; the more I wanted to know him as a person.  There are a lot of us as local musicians that accumulate a lot of acquaintances through our work, DJ A-Dog more than most, but each of us also have lives outside of music; lives that include our other passions, lives that revolve around the people we love the most; and some of us were eventually lucky enough to be included in that side of Andy’s life, and were blessed enough to be able to include him in ours.  Early on Andy and I were acquaintances and music was our common ground, but over time the more I got to know him, the more I knew without a doubt that I wanted him to be more than an acquaintance; I wanted to be his friend.  Andy was everything that you look for in a friend; honest, humble, happy, generous, selfless, caring, and positive.  I was lucky enough that we did become good friends, and that we got to spend our time together not treating each other as acquaintances, but treating each other like family.  Andy’s generosity and selflessness shined through every single time I was with him. When Andy would come to see me he would always bring me something; a new mixtape, some stickers he’d made, a new hat, some magazines, or some new clothes.  Andy specifically thought of me when he left the house and put something in his backpack just for me; and nothing could have made me feel more special.  Here was someone with thousands of friends and fans, plenty of people in his life, but he took the time and effort to make our friendship special, every single time I saw him.  Every fall Andy would show up at my door with a new winter jacket in his hands that Burton had given him the year prior and he’d hand it to me and say “hey, I thought you’d like this jacket, I got a new one so you can have this one!”. Nobody does these things.  Andy did. Over the years, through these constant selfless actions, he taught me to strive be as much like him as I could be.  I’d always have a pile of stuff that I collected for Andy for the next time I’d see him, and without fail, he’d always show up with something for me. Andy taught me that every day matters.  Andy taught me that you can, and should, make everyone feel special every single time you are with them. Andy taught me that life is about treating people the way that you want to be treated, and that it’s OK to be openly honest, openly caring, and eternally positive. Andy changed my life forever, and I will never for the rest of my life be the same without him. Andy taught me that angels do, in fact, exist.