US

Starsky

I had just said goodbye to Jeanne and Kenny on my way to pick up Hutch. We are going to spend the day together. I'm not exactly sure what we're going to do today but that doesn't matter. What really matters is that I'm going to spend the day with my best buddy. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife. We've been married a long time now and I couldn't imagine a day without her. My son, Kenny, is a great kid and he's growing into a wonderful person. He's kind, considerate, compassionate and tough. He's gone through more than most adults and has always had a positive outlook on things. He's going to be one hell of a cop someday and I love him dearly. He is a part of me. Jeanne and I made him. That still makes me tear up when I think about it. How two people can make something as wonderful as a child, especially a child as wonderful as Kenny. When I was younger, I never thought I'd get to be married or have kids. When we found out we were having a son, there was never any doubt that he would be named after Hutch.

But Hutch is different. My relationship with him is something that's hard to explain. I've known him since we were in the police academy and that was over forty years ago. He has saved my life, I don't know how many times, although he has probably kept count. Most people don't understand the special bond we share. That's because most people will never have someone in their lives like Hutch. I have always been able to be myself around him. I have always been able to talk to him about anything no matter how difficult the subject was. He has seen me laugh and he has seen me cry. He has nursed me back to health and has held me when I was scared. He has been strong when I couldn't find the strength to be strong myself and he has yelled at me when I needed it the most.

Hutch is fun too. He can be so funny at times. Once he even faked amnesia because he was mad at me. Oh yeah, we've had our fights and disagreements. But all those arguments and disagreements we've had just seemed to make us stronger friends.

We're retired from the police department now but when we were on the force, we felt like there was nothing we couldn't accomplish. Interrogating suspects with Hutch was fun. We had different games or techniques we would use.

Life with Hutch in it has been scary, painful, even mindboggling at times but most of all it has been great. I don't know what I would do without him in my life. We've even talked about that, what each of us would do without the other one. We have a connection that goes beyond even our own understanding. We don't try to understand it or explain it, we just kind of go with the flow of it. Today we're spending another day together doing who knows what. Maybe we'll go see a movie, maybe we'll go see Huggy or maybe we will just go sit at the pier while he pretends to try to get me to like fishing then watch the sunset. Hutch isn't perfect, but he's Hutch and that's good enough for me. It doesn't matter what we do today, it will be a day with Hutch and a bad day with Hutch is better than a good day without him.

Hutch

My best friend Starsky is on his way over to pick me up. I don't know where we're going but it doesn't matter, we'll come up with something. Usually, something is trouble that just seems to find us. Jeanne and Debbie say that we're trouble magnets. I think they're right but as long as I'm with Starsky, we can get out of it. I always tell him I'm the brains of our little duo. The truth is, the real brains of our partnership has always been us, together.

I'm married to a wonderful woman, Debbie, whom I love and cherish. I couldn't imagine a day without her. My son, Davey, is such a joy to have in my life. He has been through so much. I was kidnapped for almost four months just before he turned thirteen and he was so strong during that time. He never gave up on me, neither did Starsky. Davey was there for his cousin when he had to shoot an armed intruder who was about to kill Starsky. He's going to be one hell of a cop one day. Davey is a black belt in Karate and I'm so proud of him. He is a very strong, compassionate, and loving person. I'm very proud of the man that he is becoming. Davey and Kenny together will be the new Starsky and Hutch on the police force one day. God help the bad guys on the streets.

Let me get back to my thoughts on Starsky now. He's just well, he's Starsky. He can act like such a big kid at times but you sure don't want to cross him. He's the best cop I know. Well, the best cop I knew before we retired. I loved interrogating suspects with him. He was the best bad cop ever, but he could also play a mean game of ask and stare. I have also seen him show great compassion.

I wouldn't have been half the cop I was if I didn't have him as my partner. He was always so much more than just a partner to me. When I was addicted to heroin, he held me all night. He held me close to him and assured me that we would work through it together. Even though I tried to get away and fight him, he was strong, so strong for me. It would have been easier to give into my demands for the stuff I wanted and craved so bad.

It's hard to say how many times he was there for me. He was there for me when Gillian died and years later when I lost Jennifer. He took such good care of Davey when I was kidnapped. Debbie, Davey and I just went through losing our house in a fire. Starsky didn't hesitate to let us stay with him until we found a new one and I was well enough to move in.

We were both devastated when Chief Dobey was killed years ago. I'm glad we had each other to hold onto then. We still talk about him quite a bit. Dobey was so important to us early in our careers.

And eat- man, can Starsky eat. I honestly don't know why the man is still alive after seeing what he puts into his body. I've never seen anyone else eat burritos and pizza the way he does. Starsky loves his food, that's for sure.

The trust we share is unmatched by anyone I know. I not only trust him with my life that's easy, I also trust him with my emotions. I don't show my emotions very much and tend to hold things back, but not with Starsky. It was his shoulder I cried on when we lost the house in a fire not long ago. It was his shoulder that was there for me when I lost Jennifer. He knows my every fear, my joys my sorrows and inner most thoughts. It would be safe to say that Starsky knows me better than I know myself.

When we talked about retiring we voiced our concerns about losing some of the closeness we share. Our lives changed a little since we retired but not a lot. Like I said earlier, trouble just seems to find us. We were actually worried about our lives becoming boring when we quit the force. Our lives have been anything but boring. Since we retired, we've been in a plane crash, were forced to work in a cocaine factory, we helped our friends solve a couple of cases, heck even our wives and sons were involved in a bank robbery. Our lives have been anything but dull and boring since we retired.

We've had our bad days where we just couldn't seem to get along. We have had many disagreements and arguments over the years. No matter how bad it got, we knew we could talk about it and work it out. Our friendship and partnership has always been our number one priority. Funny thing is, we don't have to work that hard at it. Being Starsky's friend just feels right.

We have always called ourselves Me & Thee and I guess that sums us up better than anything else. My ring tone on my cell phone when he calls me is his voice saying, "This is the Me of the Me and Thee." That was his idea. He grabbed my phone one day when I didn't know it and put in on there as a joke. He doesn't know it, well actually he probably does, but I like it, so I left it.

We are married and call our wives our better half's but call each other our 'other half.' Speaking of which, I know my 'other half' is here now. I wonder what the day will bring. I don't care what we do, where we go, or what trouble we get into. A bad day with Starsky is better than a good day without him.