I want to say more but the deeper I go, the harder it gets. Eric was my best friend growing up. We were absolute pals and childhood friends in Clovis, Ca. We played Legos. We talked about girls and music and the future. I remember simply hanging out at his house with Heidi the dog and Cleo the cat while we watched MTV, listened to Def Leppard or Duran Duran on the boom box. We often had to juggle VHS tapes to watch between some late night football matches played in the UK(on PBS) for Max and some mid-day soap operas for the rest of the family. I often heard about the great shows he was a part of at Clark and CHS. He loved performing so much. I remember one epic weekend where we drove down to Magic Mountain in southern California and spent two wonderful days riding as many roller coasters as we could until it was time to come home. Unfortunately, his car had some issues and we had to stop mid-way. Eric, ever positive, made the call home to family to ask to get picked up. I have fond memories riding around with Eric in the passenger seat of his yellow Datsun while I held his boombox and recorded the trip. We would play it back in high speed mode which made us sound like chipmunks and we would laugh endlessly. Eric and the Cannon family are a HUGE part of childhood. After losing my brother two years ago, Kathy was a wonderful support for my parents and our family. My parents can only hope to do the same for Kathy, Max and Sharon. We love you.

Again, so many wonderful memories. Though we weren’t as close as adults, I already miss and love you, Eric. You were the friend that God put in my life at the time I needed it and forever has made an impact on me.

Eric Cannon was in the theatre program with us at Sarah Lawrence during some special years – years made that much more memorable by the enthusiasm and joy that he brought into every class and to all of our parties. Eric adored the theatre, and directed a bunch of us in a production of Bus Stop that we were all proud to be a part of. Did an epic job. And dammit if the man didn’t light up the bar with his grin every Thursday night at The Malthouse as we’d jump up and down to Guns n’ Roses. The photo below is of Eric and I on his graduation day at SLC. He moved to NYC after this and we all soon followed him. Years of epic celebration in the city followed.

And it was just Eric and I on, hands down, one of the best nights of my life. We both loved Aussie rockers Midnight Oil, so we went to see them play on Long Island. During the gig we stopped to congratulate the guitarist from the support band and, well, that chat somehow ended up with us both being slapped on the chest with backstage passes. And THAT ended up with Eric and I chilling and having beers with every member of Midnight Oil. Just Eric, me, and the band. We left late that night and walked silently across the empty parking lot towards his car. But then we stopped, turned to each other, grinned big… and freakin’ screeeamed at the top of our lungs! There we were – two idiots jumping up and down and hugging each other in an empty parking lot because we’d just had beers with Midnight Oil.

I’ll always treasure that night, and ALL the nights that we got to spend with you, Eric. You were joy, laughter, warmth and sincerity – always. We should all be more like you.

I’ll miss you, dear friend.