I had the honor of being the best man at my friend’s wedding, and this was the speech I wrote for it.
When I started to write this speech, I wanted to start out by telling everyone how long I’ve known Jason.
Then I thought well, I haven’t really known “Jason” because from day one, I’ve only known him as one thing, and that’s as “Crute “
And that got me thinking “What’s in a Name?”
“Crute” may just be 5 letters to anyone else, just a last name to some, but to many here, and myself, those 5 letters characterizes so many things in our minds.
It’s like with Madonna or Prince, “Crute” is uniquely himself and so unlike anyone else that he only needs one name.
Same as “John” wouldn’t have the same power behind it as the name “Bell.” A “Nyamekeye” is not even close to a “LUM.” And a Rose by any other name may still be a Rose, yet somehow, it’s less so as a “David”.
And like those, Crute isn’t just a surname; it holds much more significance to me than that;
Crute once shot out a friend’s windshield with a BB gun from his second-floor loft and then paid for the damages with comic books he didn’t even own.
In the nearly 14 years that I have known him, Crute has owned dogs, cats, fish, lizards, iguanas, guinea pigs, an octopus, and coming home from work one day, Crute found that his ferret ate his parrot.
Once in GNC, Crute turned to me and in all seriousness, declared: “Stu, I am too big for regular pants” he said “Go into J.C. Penney and see if you can find me some drawstring pants.”
And I did.
But those were much simpler days when our group of friends were young and innocent, 24 or 25 years of age, running around without a care in the world.
And though his eccentric personality and crazy situations get all the ink, I wouldn’t be up here if Crute wasn’t also a good person and great friend, you always know you are getting the truth with him, and then some.
It could have been so easy to lose touch when he moved 45 minutes out of Plymouth-Canton, but he stayed in touch with many of us, and when I moved to the West Coast, when there were times that we didn’t speak for 2-3 months at a time, yet I never felt the bonds bend one bit.
If you don’t know him very well, Crute may look like a stereotypical tough guy, but to anyone that knows him, Crute is much more than that. He’s honest, and intelligent, humourous and philosophical.
He’s Crute.
So, whatever you know him by, Crute just isn’t a word, it has much more meaning behind it.
And if by simply taking the name “Crute” brings even a tenth of the meaning and memory to me and all of us that know him by this, I think we’ll all be lucky and more than happy to welcome another “Crute” into our lives.
So, this is my tribute to the old Crute and new one.
