We should all have this kind of friend

 

The picture above is of one of the best hearted people I've ever met and myself at a wrestling event. 

When he posted that same picture on facebook for my birthday in 2020 he had this as it's caption:

Four score and some odd years ago, this dude wanted to job shadow and intern with me. Little did we know then that he would become one of my brothers. To be honest i dont know which birthday it is, but i know he will have a shockingly good time. Love ya fam!!

To be able to sit here and explain to you just how many things that Aaron Molaski did to give me a chance to be someone in our shared profession would take forever and to be honest with you I didn't realize some of them until after he passed away on December 20th, 2021. 

For the next couple of weeks after losing my friend I will be honest I felt like a zombie inside and tried to come up with any way I could while calling games to honor him when given a chance from using his catchphrase boomshakalaka or his personal credo of "attack the world each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind" and just hope that it made him or someone else going through the pain (or sometimes maybe me) smile.

Some of the people around the area we are both fortunate enough to call friends and family helped me record this show: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=946127 and while I sat for hours trying to figure out what to say on my part I got it done in one take about two weeks after he passed and then broke down after.

When I was about 16 years old and in high school I made friends with the Molaski siblings Sarah and Matt who are in my class and a year older and eventually their smartass brother AARON MATTHEWS who was the big voice you could hear every night on the local radio station 92 Zoo in Lima.

Now I never admitted this to him because I needed his head to fit inside a car or an arena or pressbox but being around the radio station and "that guy" as Peachy would often call him lovingly down the road was a big deal for a kid who was not AT ALL popular..........but that was the thing about Aaron....he didn't care and we hit it off immediately when I first met him and I probably ended up becoming more of "Aaron's friend" than anyone at that point. 

Medium story short: Aaron had me on his Friday night scoreboard shows as "Mike the Intern" and we grew closer and began watching wrestling ppv's in his parents basement every month before eventually the old BW 3 in Lima where "the crew" grew from there. 

You couldn't be around him and not be sucked in by his personality. I heard it best described many times by his dad Larry, a pastor and the amazing man who performed my wife and I's nuptials that LOUD would be the perfect word. You might think that's mean but trust me if you had met the man it was the most apt description available....in the most loving way. 

I have so many stories I want people to know about Aaron Molaski, not Aaron Matthews that I might revisit them from time to time (plus to give statute of limitations time to wear off) on here. 

The reason if you don't know that I keep saying Molaski (his real name) and not his work name is because some people didn't know either for a while (cough Peachy cough) or ever that he had two different names. 

Aaron Matthews was a louder than life personality who would do anything for you but to truly know Aaron Molaski was something else that I will forever cherish. 

Thank you for helping me get my foot into the radio door 24 years ago and into broadcasting now 15 years ago, I hope I've made you proud. 

I miss you my friend, tell Cowbiker I said hey and thank you for the doors you opened for me and helped me kick down after to get where I am. 

JUST FYI: If you turn on the radio and you hear DMX yelling out about giving it to you that's just Aaron's way of saying hi.