Ben knew he was looking for something that he couldn’t find at home. So he began a new life five hundred miles away. Arriving in Fort Worth in the fall of 1986 he didn’t know a single person. As It Is, When It Was is a coming-of-age story about a time when everything was possible and fresh and new. When the world was wide open. Loud guitars, smoky bars, and quiet libraries form the backdrop to Ben’s first weeks at college. At times reflective and touching, at others hilarious, Ben’s journey brings him new friends, a once in a lifetime love, and epiphanies that can only occur to those with young hearts. As he sees bands in small clubs or sleeps on the streets with the homeless, or learns his best friend’s deepest secret, we feel the possibilities and the excitement of being young and infinite and in love with everything.