Friends for a Lifetime

So this is May.  I am terrible at remembering birthdays but one I do remember was the birthday of my first ever mate.
He lived in a home just down the road from us and on the side of a hill.  One of my fondest memories was of us in go carts.  We would take them as far up his hill as possible.  Someone would ack as look out and declare it was safe to head down the hill.  We would not head directly down the hill as that would have garnered too much speed.
Instead, we zigzagged down, visiting the road and walkways on the way.  The goal was the driveway at his place.  I do not remember how we stopped in those particular instances, but I do remember a pile of sand at the end of the driveway which was like a crash pad.  It stopped moment in a hurry.
Later when we graduated to push bikes, we would avail ourselves of the sand on the drive way and head into it and do amazing skids.
I used to enjoy visiting his joint.  Though one time I did have an alterior motive for wanting to go there.  Mum put those plans to bed as she would not let me visit him.  We lived on the side of another hill.  The big one in Townsville called Castle Hill.  I had started a fire in the hill area.  I did not know flames could move so quick.
I thought it best to be away from the scene.  At that stage mum had no idea of my role in starting it but she would not let me go.  The fire brigade visited.  It got into a bamboo grove in a neigbours property and they came three times before it was out.
I sometimes think that these days if the media got hold of some of the things I am others had done, we would be painted as terrible youth.  But we were not.  Different time, different place.  Not a good look for sure, but fortunately all was well and we learned our lesson and moved on.
I still have contact with that person.  I attended his wedding (I thought I would look for a job while down here), have visited he and his wife, and remain in contact through Facebook.
We have accumulated a life time of memories, and look forward to getting together again in the future.