for you......

well,... this is proving to be more difficult than i thought it would be. As I sit here drinking my extra bold starbucks italian roast from my new frech press, I can't help but search my mind of all the amazing memories i'm leaving with. The once-in-a-lifetime trips, the extreme laughing that made you sore the next morning, the eyes of the ones you were serving, and the conversations...man, the conversations. If there is anything I will miss the most...it's the conversations. Sitting knee to knee, eye to eye, and sharing stories. Stories of love and love lost. Stories of mountain top victories and rock bottom mistakes. Just stories...raw, unfiltered, this-is-the-way-it-is stories. I love those conversations! I think the reason I love them so much is because I get to see you. Not just the you that everybody knows, but you. YOU! The you that you only let a few select see. The you that hides behind your walls. The walls that have been forged over the years of self-discovery. The walls that have remained steady over the years of abuse. The walls that seem so strong and unpenetrable unitl you make the decision, as weary as you may be, to open and let someone in to discover what truly lies behind them and hope they don't abuse it. You... i've gotten to see a lot of you. And I know I don't have the power to counter all your cynicism, or mend all your breaks, or wipe all of your tears...but the privilege to see you for you has been an honor. Thank you for letting me be one of the chosen to see behind the mask or the plastic smiles. Thank you for trusting me with your inner-most fears. Thank you for being you....! And though I may go and seem far away...I carry you with me. I remember you. And now I beg you...do it again. This world hungers for authenticity. It is starving for the genuine. It craves the realness that you hold behind the ramparts of your heart. Don't be afraid...hope in the things to come...it's not about you.