Doug’s Favorite Memory

Nick knew how to bring everyone together and one way he did it best was a campfire. This is where many of my happiest memories with Nick occurred. My story takes place around the campfire on the first camping trip I ever went on with Nick and all my roommates. We were camping on East Cuesta Ridge in San Luis Obispo. The night began with Nick strumming the guitar and us all singing along. All worries in life had melted away, it was impossible to be unhappy, thanks to Nick. We bought a pack of cheap sausages to cook over the fire for dinner, a tradition Nick passed on to us. As we opened the packages of sausages we quickly realized they were all connected links. As we pulled them out, they kept coming. Thinking we bought normal sausages, it caught us off guard. During this time, I locked eyes with Nick. I can’t describe why but we started laughing hysterically. Everyone quickly caught on and couldn’t figure out why we couldn’t control our laughter. We laughed until my stomach hurt, and my face was covered in tears. It was the hardest I have ever laughed. Nick had a way to communicate with you without words through his one-of-a-kind mannerisms. He had a contagious laugh that all that knew him were impacted by. This was the beginning of many more camping trips, campfires, and hysterical laughs. Through these times Nick consistently created an aura that nobody around could resist. Nick showed me the value of a good campfire. These times were truly magic, and Nick was the man behind the magic. I know that campfires will never be the same without him; however I know at every campfire I sit down at, Nick will be sitting next to me, cooking his sausage on a stick in the fire, strumming his guitar, and singing “Tennessee Stud”.