I must say, I have some pretty
interesting people that I call friends. Some are cops, while others
used to be crooks. Some have been insanely successful, and others
I'm absolutely baffled that they aren't famous or rich. There's
nurses and teachers, cops and military, all honorable professions that must have a calling in your soul the likes that I can't even conceive. Some are raging liberals,
while others are staunch conservatives. Regardless our political
ideologies, we're able to discuss our differences civilly and with
respect, 'cause that's what friends do. I know people that have
toured Alaska, live in Europe, worked in Antarctica, and are
diplomats and humanitarians that traveled to places I wouldn't DARE
step foot on. And that's not even including the friends that have
stayed in the same place they were born, and can't imagine living
anywhere else.
Ex-junkees, prior alcoholics, current
winos and productive stoners are also within my friendly repertoire,
and if you think that's a bad thing, let me just insist you get the
best stories from all of them. I got a surprising amount that
continue to play with puppets, jump around in cartoon costumes, dance
to songs, even juggle, and those seem to be the happiest and most satisfied of
all my friends.
A lot of them are creative, like me.
They've made your kids laugh at movies you've all watched a million
times. They've created cartoons that have been on your television
for over a generation. They've won Oscars and Caldecotts; Addies and
Little League Trophies. They make their own beer, sell their own
crafts, bake their own cakes, write their own scripts, shoot their
own films. A handful of them can't catch a break,
no matter how hard they try, while others seem to live the most
charmed lives in the world, with opportunities almost seeming to be
wisped down to them, with barely an effort involved in earning them.
Regardless what spectrum you fall under, I root for you both, and
cheer you on with every endeavor.
Some have reproduced like rabbits, and it's crazy to see
these cute little clones of my friends crawl and scream and run and
quickly grow up into being their own people. Some haven't had kids
at all, and although there is a small part of me that envies your
copious amounts of spare time and money, I do kinda muse at the lack
of a pretty damn interesting part of your life that you've more than
likely chosen to not engage in.
Devout Atheists, stringent Catholics.
Modern Muslims, transcendental Buddhists. Most don't really seem to
have a strong opinion, one way or another. I still keep in contact
with my very first best friend from Kindergarten, and continue to
hang often with old co-workers-turned-best-friends on a weekly basis.
I've noticed that true friends have a magical way of picking up with
you right where you left off. It's a strange alchemy that makes time
and space irrelevant, and you act like you just saw them yesterday,
even if it's been a decade.
You all are insanely interesting, and
make my life so much richer by being within it. There has been so
much laughter during the good times, and thousands of words of
support during the bad times. Life would be so much more boring
without you, and there's so much that all of you have contributed to
me that has helped make me more interesting to the rest of the world. I thank you for the spice and flavor that you add to it all, it's truly an honor to be part of this bunch!
