Justin Youens

I knew who Justin was when I was in junior high, but I never KNEW him. I knew he was a year older than me and played the trombone in the band. And I knew he was pretty much best friends with Matthew Walls, who was also my friend. Then, on a summer trip with FBC Atlanta to Ridgecrest, North Carolina, we got to know each other really well. He made me laugh really hard all the freakin' time. For whatever reasons, I thought he was so cool, and I really looked up to him.

I think some of the qualities that initially drew me to him as a friend were his humor, friendliness, and energy. Like I said, he made everybody laugh. His personality has always been lively and fun. And he is not discriminatory. He's very kind to the nerdiness of nerds and the jockiest of jocks... and they all like him, always have as far as I know. In one sense, you have this incredibly brilliant computer geek who I always bragged would be the next Bill Gates, and, on the other hand, this suave, well-liked, competitive guy who everyone wants to know.

So I did what I could to be in his presence on that trip. I wanted to sit by him on the charter bus, at meals, and in the services. And everytime he said something funny, I would turn in all directions, as I continued to do through the years, to make sure everyone around us heard what he had said. If they had not, I filled them in. I quickly became the coordinator for the Justin Youens fan club, letting everyone know how funny and smart he was... and, of course, implied in that context that he was my friend. I remember from that summer on, all the way through high school, being so proud that everyone knew Justin was my very close friend.

It always raised my self confidence a thousand notches when a friend whom I admired expressed mutual respect of me (still does). So, when I got the sense on that trip that Justin mutually wanted to build a friendship with me, my self confidence went skyward, and without a doubt, his encouragement of and confidence in me through the years lifted me to do things and express myself in ways that I definitely would never have done had he not been there. There are girls I would not have dated without his encouragement, things I might not have pursued, like debate and informative speaking, had he not been involved in them, and one particular sport I would not have excelled in without him, tennis. He even allowed me to be his doubles partner my junior (his senior) year in high school, though I was not nearly as good as him (and he, for the most part, even held back his frustration at my many screw-ups).

Something you must know about Justin is that he is a lucky dog. He used to be a living legend for his good fortune. He would win things right and left, like free Surges, free Snapples and Snapple t-shirts, randomly win drawings, $50.00 on his first lottery ticket on his 18th birthday, all kinds of odd winnings that I cannot remember in detail. Anyhow, just trust me, he was a like a wizard when it came to stumbling into good fortune when we were in high school. And I think that has always been the case with Justin.

Beyond these petty "good fortunes," you must also know that Justin is brilliant. The story goes that he got a computer back in the day (was it junior high) just before going on a family camping trip. The computer came just before he was to leave, and he whined to his parents that he wanted to stay home and play with his new "toy" (Justin has always loved new "toys" and gadgets). Well, they made him go on the camping trip, so he studied the dadgum D.O.S. manual the whole time, wishing to be back where he could put his new knowledge to work. The rest is history.

In high school, he worked for Cloverleaf Technologies answering questions over the phone, walking folks through their tech problems, and, eventually, the boss guy realized how astute he was, let him design some websites, and before you know it, he had gone in with a couple of guys to run their own company, I-Pages, next door. Sooner still, Justin was running his own business, Youens Design and Hosting, first out of the former I-Pages office, then out of his parents home, while just a junior in high school (as I remember). He was on the fast track to all the success that he has long since had, and I won't go into detail, because I am so out of date. I still brag that he made websites for Mary Kay makeup, some leatherworks company, and Hawaiian Tropics sunscreen, and that was way back in high school. His work is far beyond my comprehension, at this point, but still, whenever he shares with me what he is presently working on, I inevitably brag in the ensuing weeks to a host of other friends about what Justin is up to now. I don't know why, but I get so extremely proud of everything he does. Evidence to me that he still means a whole heck of a lot to me.

A few years ago, Justin hooked up with this incredibly amazing girl named Christy, and since then they've married, graduated from Texas A&M, recently purchased a new home, and hopefully will spend New Years Eve with me. I am pathetically out of touch with them, but Justin recently commented on this very blog that there is hope that we might be neighbors one day. Though I have no idea what the heck he meant or how the heck that could ever happen, his random comment keeps repeating itself to me as the weeks go by. Something in me hopes, because few people loosen me up and give me such joy about life as Justin.