oh ursula, you're so mysterious...

[glaucon]

open letter to alice_at_night:



for a bit of a walk down memory lane, take a look at my follow-up here:
http://boutell.livejournal.com/753876.html

I also have been meaning to email you for a couple weeks now. two weeks ago (to the day, I believe) was the 20th anniversary of the day I met you. you were my first friend in newark, my first friend in college, and are (at this point) my oldest friend with whom I'm still in (semi)regular contact.

I am completely horrified to be able to say that we've been friends for more than half of my life and for pretty much my entire adult life (which one could argue started about twenty minutes ago). but the horrifying part is how godawfully old I've suddenly become, combined with how much I remember and in such great detail.

the decidedly non-horrifying part is how much joy your existence has always brought me. you have always managed to simultaneously make me want to laugh, scratch my head, use my brain, fasten my seatbelt, and make out with you.

(although I attribute part of the durability of our friendship to the fact that I only ever did that last one a few times, and those many years ago).

you took me and stefan on a walking tour of newark on our first night in dickinson. I have absolutely no recollection of where we went on that walk - it was almost like it was a walk around a town that vanished before the following dawn and was replaced by the newark I later came to know. I guess it's probably a trick of the mind of the sort that one has when one tries to remember one's first impressions of a place that later became excruciatingly familiar. or is that just me? it's definitely a run-on sentence.

anyway, I remember it was an extremely long walk. and I remember we ended up in the cemetary at the end of Choate St. at least, I think we did. it might have been another cemetary in another town in another universe. it might have been fucking sunnydale for all I know.

but it was a good walk, and without it, and all of the wonderful interactions and mutual annoyances you and I shared over the ensuing...decades (I can say that now), I can state with no exaggeration and some certainty that I would be a lesser and sadder person today.

I know neither of us is terribly great at staying in touch, and I don't imagine that changing any time soon, but I thought now would probably be a good time to let you know how much you mean to me.

this message will repeat in 2027.

(and by the way, can I have that written marriage proposal back now?)

Comments

i have one of those!

[berlee.livejournal.com]

nearly the exact letter could be written and applicable, changing just a couple of minor details (location names, i never made out with him, the marriage proposal was received by me). everyone should have one of these.

Where's mine?

[twistedncynical.livejournal.com]

Sheesh.

Re: Where's mine?

[glaucon.livejournal.com]

hey! our 20th anniversary isn't until 2018.
stick around until then and you'll get what's coming to you.

Re: Where's mine?

[glaucon.livejournal.com]

but be assured that I think you're the tops too!

open mini-response to he who used to be Hamlet.

[alice-at-night.livejournal.com]

I want to draft a response that says something more poignant than "right back at you, dude. It is dude, isn't it?"

But hell, if I wait to be poignant, it might be awhile. I do want to say that I was pleasantly surprised to realize last year that you too were my oldest friend. I have always thought that you were the bees knees, and still do. Your way with words always amazed me, revealing a mind that amazes me even more, and you do it so effortlessly. I am in awe in the way you've lived your life; it makes me regret even more that the decade I was wedded to mediocrity. I'm getting back to living now, and I think it's starting to take.

And hell no you can't have your proposal back. I plan to brandish it from the aisle if you ever get on your knees. Or at your deathbed. Or both.

what happened 20 minutes ago that made you an adult?