Ode to a dear friend

So, tonight, a dear friend of mine came home after what most of us thought was a vacation, walked in the door, and told a roommate, "Come give me a hug, I'm moving home... right now." Needless to say, we were all shocked, but, people quickly mobilized to help my friend pack and move.

When said friend gave me a hug goodbye, I nearly started crying, and when they pulled out, I nearly lost it but didn't because of the other people standing around. Afterwards I persuaded some other friends to go for a walk, which, still hasn't really calmed me, so, I'm sitting here, now writing about how much I'm going to miss my friend, because I can't sleep. Now, folks, this really was a friend - by the way I'm talking, you may think that I was deeply in love with this person - not so, but, I did, and do love him. So, here is my tribute to a friend that I think a lot of people, including myself, took for granted while he was around.

Here's to:
* summer nights
* Jurassic park all night long
* long, completely honest talks
* HE council
* Pioneer Day Extravaganza
* FIRST Annual Water Olympics
* bear hugs
* understanding about my brother, and my friends, and my home teachers, and everything else.
* the lobby
* shooting
* Pain Train
* baseball
* Earth Day - the burning bush at Bishop's
* rock star outfits
* camping, driving, walking
* Saturday lunches
* honey pots and table cloths
* awesome Asian restaurants
* Applebee's happy hour and making a waitress's night with a crayon and a napkin
* breaking up the Ohana bag
* helping me set up my classroom for the first time and experiencing Dairy Keen

I guess it can all be summed up in one word - love. We loved each other - not in the romantic sense. But I think we are all so busy looking for romantic love that we don't acknowledge the other kinds of love which are so important, and sustaining.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. What part of our lives do we lay down? If we're doing it right, we lay aside our jobs, or the video games, or the television, or the computer, and take time to spend with others. That's what this friend does all the time.

So here's to a friend who brought joy and comfort into my life by simply showing he cared. Thanks for the awesome memories!