Sunday Morning, Top Down.

Cruising. Cruising allows me to exhale, whether there’s a destination or not it frees me. Gives me a sunny break in the clouds of my mind. I’ve been driving for a while but the last 3 years I’ve been traveling by car specifically. I have found a love for the road, a love for the escape, driving through the nights and seeing the sunrise peek over the horizon to light my path. I know I am being guided on my journeys now because I do them without the use of energy drinks or sour gummy worms. It’s kind of a skill now to drive across california on nothing but water and podcasts or audiobooks. Even one of my apple music playlists that I’ve listened to over 100 times will still hit for that ride. One that will never fail me is Sunday Morning, Top Down I made that for a very important person in my life. A lowriding, Harley chopping, Boat cruising, Asphalt paving son of a gun. One of the realest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, never told me anything that wasn’t a lesson. From young accepted me into his life as one as his own. I was never a extra, never the kid down the street. I was always introduced as family, and treated as such. I thank him for that. I thank him for welcoming me into his family, with that I have formed some of the tightest friendships I have now truly friends I call my brothers. I thank him for sitting me at that kitchen table and talking to me for hours about his past experiences and how he overcame them. I thank him for putting me through a trade school after high school, I truly had no direction in life and he showed me a path. I thank him for instilling in me that I must be free during my youth. I thank him for the many boat rides and that one trip to Santa Cruz where I almost got eaten by a sea lion while swimming in the ocean. I thank him for the numerous parties and the random bbq’s. I thank him for all the countless handshakes and hugs that I truly miss. I thank him for being a part of my life and anyone else who had the pleasure to know him.

I thank you Ronald Mendola.

Love always, Derrick.