Even though he was only a year and a half older than me. Brad was light years different from me. He was socially confident and an athletic daredevil. Add to that his ability to balance on a number of platforms: skateboards, surfboards, and bicycles made him a popular person in and out of school. He also had a creative and quirky side which added to his charm and personality. 

The girls wanted to be with him, and the boys wanted to be him. Brad was a lover and not a fighter like Kent. He had good musical taste too and turned me on to many artists I would have never heard otherwise. He dated at an early age with the popular girls at school, many times walking down the school hallway with one under each arm. Brad was pretty bright too and seemed to get better grades than the rest of us. He usually went out with girls in my grade. He was a hard guy to hate, but an easy guy to be jealous of, particularly when you have no confidence socially and no athletic ability whatsoever. Brad and Kent both had wanderlust and spent time after high school discovering themselves as well as the far corners of the country and the world. Fast forward forty years, and Brad is married to Roberta, the same girl for over three decades, has a grown daughter Madeline, and over that time has lived in the same house in New Jersey. He has hung up his surfboard, but regularly enjoys competitive tennis and ping-pong with friends.