Marcus has always been a third younger brother to me. I mentioned T.J. in an earlier post and his affect on me, but it was his younger brother here that had a much greater influence. Marcus was always the first one outside when were younger and always eager to take part in whatever sport was being played that day. We always evened out our talent base, my younger brother Ray and I versus my other brother Matt and Marcus. It kept the games competitive and good natured. It also provided 13+ years of rivalries, all of which I loved.
Marcus allowed me to take a look at what I was growing up, sort of him being the living rewind of me. I watched him and his ability to always remain active and upbeat, and saw myself in those characteristics. Like I said in the T.J. piece, it was hard moving away after all those years, having our families separate after 13 years of being so close.
I got a bit of reward my senior year in high school, when Marcus and I were in the same gym class. The fun of our youth was rejuvenated all over again but this time we were always on the same team or side. We, along with Jim, Clayton, and Dillon Nugent, formed the “Mini Johanemans” floor hockey team and entered the tournament. Much to our surprise, we were crowd favorites and actually played very well. We didn’t win, but it was the best tournament and team I’ve ever been a part of. I asked Marcus to be on the dodgeball team that year too, supplying his jersey and everything. That tournament also ended in loss, but it was fun regardless.
I still maintain contact with Marcus, haven’t spoken in about a month but we still make conversation. He was the first friend of mine to contact me online and congratulate me on graduating from high school. It was friends like him that made me miss high school, a feeling that I still have, and probably always will.
