The Schwoozh Cut

Heh....Neil called me just now. God I miss that fucker. See, this is the sort of thing that I mean when I say that I don't want to forget about anyone that I care about but haven't talked to in a while. I miss that kid so damned much.

I've been smiling since the moment he called me. We just shoot the shit, it's great. All we talk about are new Magic Cards that have come out, and the displays at the MOC we hate so much, and shit like that, but damn. Our friendship is so genuine, so down to Earth. There's not a thing in the world that makes me happier than the sheer innocence of our friendship. Neil's the kid down the street that you go on bike rides with and spend all afternoon with and are bummed out cause you have to go home and have dinner. Except he's like 35, and has a daughter.

Talking to him seriously makes me feel good inside all over again. Neil was one of my closest friends during the last year of my life. Once he and I started talking to each other at work, things just got better. No matter what was going on in my life, showing up at work and seeing that kid walkin around being goofy and making WHACHIIIIIING noises around the store just makes everything right.

It makes me feel silly sometimes, that two grown men, he significantly more so than myself, get together and play video games after work, or cards, or whatever the hell. It's like, in your life, when all you're trying to do is be mature, and keep your head above water, how incredible is it to meet someone who, even though he's in just as deep as you, still has his head in the clouds? That man has been a beacon of hope for me in so many circumstances. When he's down, there's nothing more I want than to be there for him and see him happy again. I Love that kid with all my heart. I honestly do. When I left, he was so sad, and honestly I was too. And not in the way that you miss most people, but in the way you felt sad when you moved away from home when you were 8.

I don't know if friendships like that are possible between just anyone, if somehow our friendship was one in a million, and I was just lucky to stumble upon it how I did. Could anyone have that kind of friendship with him, or was our something unique and special in the world? It doesn't matter really, because it's there, and I hope it never, ever goes away. Neil's the kind of guy I want in my life forever. I care about his little daughter Ally like she were my niece.

So Neil, this goes out to you. Thank you for being a light in my life since I've known you. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face I couldn't possibly hope to wipe away, and rekindling the flame in my heart I had feared faded away with the passing of my childhood.