I've been reflecting on our friendship all day and I can't tell you how important Butch was to all of us. He didn't have a lot but he would give you what he had.

He cut wood that weekend and delivered it to the man's house so he could have heat.

My first thought was this might not be a good day and that thought became true as the day went along.

It should be a good day of wrestling, with a lot of good semi-final matches.

(The doctors) say they got it all. I'm getting better each day. ... It's a long recovery. I'll take two steps forward and then one step back, but I'm definitely feeling better more and more each day.

To hear your own words read out loud like that the day after you wrote them was just heady stuff for a 17-year-old.