Alright. So I was busy all night last night and I didn’t even realize that I had missed a friend’s birthday. Brandon! Profuse apologies! I thank you for telling me about it. As is my tradition with many of my good friends, I choose to take such a day in my blog in order to honor them. You are no exception.
Brandon. You are a joy to be around. Your humor is quite contagious as you’re with me on teasing one of our especially smurfy friends. (Many of you might not understand that reference, but consider it an inside joke. There could be a number of them on here.) I can always count on you my friend for that.
I believe you have this secret about you that I wish others would realize. Jokes do not grow old. People grow old with jokes. For you, a tease is just as funny today as it was several years ago. Unfortunately, many of us have lost our wonder over the years, but you are not one to do so.
You are also far more familiar with the history of Middle-Earth in the Tolkien series than I ever will be or ever would hope to be. I know you will say I will go on endlessly when I trap you in a Socratic Dialogue as it were as you sometimes say “Darn philosophers”, but I don’t know anyone who knows the history of Middle-Earth like you do. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could quote verbatim the LOTR.
Yet if anyone gets the impression that you are simply jokes and Middle-Earth, they would be wrong. At some of my hardest times which you know about, you have been there. When I have suffered from the loss of love, you have been there. When I have worried about other matters in my life, you have been there.
It was times that I found myself quite amazed. I used to be one that would have thought that it was all teasing, but your serious side is just as serious as your humorous side, which is important. We should all realize that when we play, we are to play hard, but when we work, we are to work just as hard.
You do have a gift for counseling. You have keen insights into the way we approach life that can change the way I look at things at least. I know that if there is something troubling me, I can always go to you and you’ll listen. I wish you’d let that side of you out more. I think you’re denying the world the gift of yourself at times.
I also thank you for the favor you’ve been doing for me. It’s having someone like you nearby that keeps me walking the straight and narrow. I don’t want to let you down. I also thank you for your encouragement. You know I do not often believe in myself, and you are there every time.
Brandon. I thank you for your friendship. Aristotle said our closest friends were those who helped us grow in virtue. Sharing fun times together is important, but you help me grow in virtue you as well. I thank you for that my friend. Happy Birthday.
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