Clayton Stormoen is a wiry kind of guy but in a way unique to himself and Immediately recognizable by his curled brown hair and chopped sideburns. Standing face to face with the man, his eyes seem to peer through your body and into your actual being, seeing you for exactly what you are. Which isn’t untrue or exaggerated. He likely knows me better than I do myself. He’s driven by a desire to learn more and use newfound information to learn even more.
He is a strange creature. Talking to him it almost feels like speaking with an ancient wizard, one who knew you would be right where you are when you are. Not the type to deal in social media or celebrity gossip, practically anything meant to entertain the average man. Despising all of this he takes joy in dealings with himself and with music. One could consider him a “gamer” but maybe not in the way you’d think. With his desire to learn, he immediately tries to figure out the entire system. He learns quickly what does and doesn’t work in terms of whatever game he may play.
Beyond that, actually speaking to him is quite enjoyable. Knowledgeable on many topics, you could have any manner of conversation flowing in any which way, and it would work. Many times, we have had conversations about the way we think the world works. And many times at the end of the discussion we come to agreement on our beliefs, only to find out moments later, that we were both wrong about some key point in the conversation many minutes ago. After which we use newfound knowledge to deliberate onto an agreeable point.
But beyond matters of social convention, Clayton does enjoy many more physical hobbies. He and I have both gotten our fair share of enjoyment out of skateboarding and skiing. In fact, on the slopes he tends to make me push myself to and sometimes well beyond my perceived limits. Which I can be nothing but grateful for, each trip be it skiing or skateboarding he manages to teach me something. Once, while skiing, we were scoping out one of the jumps in the terrain park. I went ahead of him and backed out before I hit the actual popper. On our chairlift back towards the top, the only words he spoke were ones he knew would force me to hit that jump. I managed to hit it like I said, but only because he knew how to force me out of my comfort zone.
In fact, I’d honestly say that I owe a large part of who I am today to having been associated with Clayton for as many years as I have. He means as much to me as I mean to myself. Our friendship is an integral part of my existence as he pushes me to better myself. I attempt to do the same for him. And because we truly want to grow we become better for it. I am truly grateful for his existence and our relationship.
