I've witnessed two strangers become friends, and friends become shy crushes, and they become jubilant risk-takers, and they become lovers, and they become partners, and they become something more than they can even fathom to describe ...I've even seem some wither, and emerge as polite shells of humanity towards each other..uprooting their foundations, and finding new houses to begin the cycle all over again
I've felt my father survive a heart attack and questioned the strength of my own heart on occasion
I've drank enough liquor in a night to forcefully kick the dashboard of my own car (somebody else was driving, smartly) in hopes of deploying the airbag
I've seen the tears and felt the warm embrace of a grandmother in her final days, summoning the strength to tightly hug her loved ones after realizing this would, in fact, be goodbye
I've watched a community mourn the preventable loss of a 17 year old best friend in a ceremony I knew he wouldn't approve, and bawled uncontrollably with a dozen peers huddled together outside the steps of the church
While in attendance, I've experienced championships, series sweeps, home run derbys, last-second wins..and every probable and improbable heartbreak a Buffalonian can fathom in the sporting world
I've sang impromptu karaoke for well over an hour on an outside patio to the passersby until my lungs hurt and I couldn't laugh anymore
I've consoled loyal friends who survived cancer, reexamined what became important to their lives afterwards, and found joy in the smallest of life's details
I've pet a stingray
I've played Nutball with total strangers (the key is to wear baggy jeans so you can create a springboard off your crotch when spread eagle, deflecting anything that comes your way)
I've been unable to unearth a wedding ring from my right breast pocket of my tuxedo (upon the priest's request during the ceremony) because of how sweaty my palms were for a solid 45 seconds, all before successfully digging far enough down and excavating the metal bastard to the laughs and cheers of many, it turned into the most unintentionally charming moment of my life
I've taken part of a whipped cream bottle battle royale at one in the morning at my work place, cleaned up (including a strategic visit to the convenient store to find cheap shampoo/soap wash the dairy smell out of our hair in the bathroom) and had the district manager show up at 4 am unexpectedly...and not notice a thing (not even the wet hair of my love and female coworkers)
I've created both yawns and tears to various wedding halls
and receptions through best man speeches on love and being loved, while shaking so bad on one occasion I could hardly read the words on the page and afterwards, I gulped a full glass of champagne like a shot so I could sit back down and breathe
I've purchased 14 carnations for the 14 high school girls in my Spanish class and had the gumption to place them on every one of their desks on Valentine's Day, just because (a lot of confused 'thank you's followed)
I've touched the soft lips of a lover with the rough pads of my fingers, warmly rubbed her collarbone, and fallen asleep with her in my arms, fingers serenely interlocked, smiling, and feeling a purpose I didn't know existed in this world until that moment
I've felt the sting of an anger-infused car door slammed in my face
I've sang with a great friend in the bright sunshine of a warm May afternoon on the steps of my college library.. there was really only one song we had down pat - it didn't matter one bit, we were alive
I've completed the Rock Band 2 marathon playlist in just under 9 hours, after consistent pausing and nap time
I've had failed lovers tell me to recommit to another when they knew how I felt about them...repeatedly (probably every 6 months for years now, truthfully)
I've jumped into a pool with my cell phone..after removing my water-proof watch
I've willfully doled out 50 bucks at a Dave and Busters with my love and merely came out carrying a 4 foot tall stuffed animal on my back to show for it (well, and some pretty amazing games and fun, too)
I've walked the same blind man up the stairs to his childhood home after school and down the aisle of his wedding
I've read the final words of this tragically selfish dead ally of mine, with his boyish vision of what the world had to offer, and experienced rage, grief, confusion, and anguish simultaneously - I miss him dearly, and think of him every time one of this favorite bands plays on my iPod, or in an old CD from my car
I've watched the slow growth of my amazing newborn nephew, and I've never seen a child smile and giggle with such heartiness and joy, he warms my heart instantly
In front of thousands, I've willingly spun around a lacrosse stick until I was dizzy and lost a competition to a little girl
I've felt adrenaline coarse through my body in a mosh pit
I've seen the beauty of a thousand glowing embers scatter recklessly onto the ground in a friend's yard after we shoved a Coke can into a bonfire and struck it repeatedly with a blunt metal stick
I've learned that after proposing in a nice restaurant, some places will offer you free champagne and dessert
I've studied for months for tests and failed
I've passed life tests without studying
I have lost genuine love and have analyzed every angle of my soul to regenerate my passion
Love found me originally despite nearly any effort of my own
I've documented these thoughts, feelings, worries, and triumphs for over a decade, and still think I'm so far away from tranquility, for better or worse
or from quelling the storms that slosh about between my ears and above my vocal chords
Life's full of insanely random, beautiful, heartbreaking, brainless, hilarious, tragic moments
nobody's perfect
so just make the most of your time
share your lives and your experiences with the ones you love
cut your losses
and don't neglect yourself with people who don't appreciate what you have to offer