{"id":521,"date":"2016-02-21T12:01:35","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T19:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/?p=521"},"modified":"2016-02-21T12:13:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T19:13:25","slug":"best-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/?p=521","title":{"rendered":"Best Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wpfai-list\"><li class=\"wpfai-list-item facebook\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521&amp;t=\" title=\"Facebook\" class=\"wpfai-facebook wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-facebook fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item twitter\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521\" title=\"Twitter\" class=\"wpfai-twitter wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-twitter fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item google-plus\">\r\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521\" title=\"Google Plus\" class=\"wpfai-google-plus wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-google-plus fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item pinterest\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521&amp;description=&amp;media=\" title=\"Pinterest\" class=\"wpfai-pinterest wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-pinterest fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item linkedin\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521&amp;title=\" title=\"Linked In\" class=\"wpfai-linkedin wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item tumblr\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tumblr.com\/share\/link?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521&amp;name=&amp;description=\" title=\"Tumblr\" class=\"wpfai-tumblr wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-tumblr fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item stumbleupon\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521\" title=\"Stumble Upon\" class=\"wpfai-stumbleupon wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-stumbleupon fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item envelope\">\r\n      <a href=\"mailto:?subject=&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F521%20-%20\" title=\"E-Mail\" class=\"wpfai-envelope wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-envelope fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item bullseye\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.specificfeeds.com\/follow\" title=\"Specific Feeds\" class=\"wpfai-bullseye wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-bullseye fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><\/ul><p>I want to wish a most heartfelt Happy Birthday to my dear friend David &#8220;Fitz&#8221; Fitzpatrick. I can&#8217;t recall a time when I didn&#8217;t know him. We&#8217;ve been friends since childhood. We grew up in the same neighbourhood, went to the same schools.<\/p>\n<p>Fitz, you&#8217;re just about the only person who can call me &#8220;Ned&#8221; and know what that means.<\/p>\n<p>We played football together for the better part of a decade. We cheered on the Ottawa Rough Riders (then) and the Calgary Stampeders now. We&#8217;ve shared the joys of Grey Cups having WAY more fun than we could ever divulge. THANK YOU Tom Clements, Tony Gabriel (and Kahlua)!<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4prWMOowJf4\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We worked our butts off to pay for school trips to Europe, conquered the Acropolis and Ouzo in Greece and saw Agent 99 in Italy!<\/p>\n<p>At Laurentian High School there were lots of City Football Championships. We had Key Club dinners at the Capri. We ate lunch under the &#8220;Cone of Silence&#8221;, modelled the &#8220;Strap de Bordeau&#8221;, streaked at initiation and danced &#8217;till we dropped with live bands in our gym.<br \/>\nThen there was the Stones&#8217; concert. How did our parents EVER let us go to T.O. alone? &#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>We sweated together, bled together, laughed and cried together, pushed and supported one another proudly through Queen&#8217;s University. Do you remember what a blast we had when Queen&#8217;s won the College Bowl in our senior year?!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz_Best_Man.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-522\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-522\" src=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz_Best_Man.jpg\" alt=\"Fitz_Best_Man\" width=\"712\" height=\"556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz_Best_Man.jpg 1681w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz_Best_Man-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz_Best_Man-768x600.jpg 768w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz_Best_Man-1024x800.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for being my Best Man when Helene Belsey and I were wed. In fact, Fitz, you knew I was going to ask Helene to marry me before she did! Oh ya, thanks for throwing that stag party for me Fitzy, it was really &#8220;NEAT&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bills-Stag.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-527\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-527\" src=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bills-Stag.jpg\" alt=\"Bill's Stag\" width=\"686\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bills-Stag.jpg 1492w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bills-Stag-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bills-Stag-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bills-Stag-1024x675.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 686px) 100vw, 686px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve shared the pride and joy of watching our kids grow up, one day sitting on Santa&#8217;s knee and in what seemed like a blink-of-an-eye, graduate from University the next.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-523\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-523\" src=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park.jpg\" alt=\"Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park\" width=\"683\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park.jpg 1119w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park-768x527.jpg 768w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fitz-Mr_Fitz-dad_Landsdowne_Park-1024x703.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We shared grief at the loss of our dads. Your dad, Mr. Mike Fitzpatrick, the &#8220;Mayor of Belair&#8221;, was a second father to me. Our fathers didn&#8217;t hesitate to give us both hell when we deserved it and were always there for both of us when we needed them. I will never forget him. I still have your father&#8217;s picture beside my dad&#8217;s in my classroom to this day.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-526\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-526\" src=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08.jpg\" alt=\"Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08\" width=\"738\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08.jpg 3072w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bill_Fitz_Grey_Cup_08-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>David, my life has been so much richer with you in it; in fact, I can&#8217;t imagine it without you. Along with my wife and sister, you&#8217;re the best friend I&#8217;ve ever had and the brother I never had. Every man should be so lucky to have a friend like you.<\/p>\n<p>Happy birthday Fitzy, &#8220;You&#8217;re simply the best!&#8221; Luv ya bud!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I want to wish a most heartfelt Happy Birthday to my dear friend David &#8220;Fitz&#8221; Fitzpatrick. I can&#8217;t recall a time when I didn&#8217;t know him. We&#8217;ve been friends since&#8230; <span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/?p=521\">Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=521"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":529,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions\/529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}