Dare I say, “I love you so,”
Would give the wrong impression,
To the true greatness of love I show,
For you on each duration
Of time we have together. Know -
That I’ll always have adoration.
Even in the darkest of our glow,
Our love will show no end to creation.
But for now I’ll simply give a go,
And say our love is simply, purely love..ation.

How quickly college has come up truly amazes me;
It feels like yesterday I was just hoping for it to come.
And now, here it is, forty-eight hours to go; and see,
I inevitably knew this summer would so soon be done.
Yet nothing true will be forgotten because,
Even in the hardest times, memories prevail.
And in those memories I give applause,
To everyone who gave something in my life’s entail.
But as time moves on, so must we all,
Because nothing ever stands still for very long.
The future may be unclear, but for always the haul,
In every sense, will better help us be strong.
We all may be going our separate ways,
But friendship, always, forever stays.

Usually, like a work of art, life changes slowly. With each stroke of the brush, the masterpiece slowly trudges forward to completion. And like artwork, we change and grow as many years pass from birth to toddler-hood to childhood to adolescence and finally to adulthood. Our personalities are different than what they were ten years ago, five years ago, two years ago, last year, last month. We’re constantly in a state of change whether we know it or not. We just can’t feel it. We meet new people, and forget some people throughout our journey in life. Some people we love, while others we love to hate. But feelings can change over time given the chance. Given time, anything can happen. But now, time is at a loss. Because within the month, everyone will be changing so rapidly that no one will be able to keep up. Distances change. Time zones change. Best friends change. Enemies change. Our hearts may even change. Such great changes in such little time can be cruel; it can spell out sadness and excitement and nervousness all simultaneously. Such a bittersweet ending to a bittersweet beginning. New - a word many people loathe. New people, places, things, ideas, will be all around us. We will have to change quickly to adapt to our new lifestyles. For some people, it will be difficult, but others may embrace this change and create everything they once had again. A new circle of friends, new people to hate, new emotions towards those new people in your life. In the end, change is good. Change helps provoke a certain sense of independence, outlook on life and accustomedness to new ideas. Embrace change for all it’s worth. At first, it will be difficult to do so, but so is everything else.

The summertime skies darken, and in a moment, a flash is seen leaping across the sky. For an instant, everything is lit. I see him lying next to me, gazing into my watery blue eyes. His pale fingers caressing my supple, tanned skin. From my face, he moves downward. My neck. My chest. My stomach. And I twitch. It tickles, but it feels nice. Instantaneously he brings his other hand forth and begins to tickle attack me. With a loud burst of laughter, I keel over. My hands flail in an attempt to stop the overflowing excess of joy and happiness rushing through me. His fingers move more quickly and the audibility of my laughter can now be heard throughout the neighborhood. My hands finally find his and it ceases. — Boom. Ten seconds. Two miles away, roughly, of course. I turn to him and say, “I can get used to this, Dan. I just hope… I hope these next five years go quickly. I can’t wait to be with you. To go to sleep together every night and to wake up together every morning. It will be to perfect.” And in response he replies, “I love you, Kevin. Even if I have to wait ten years, fifteen years, okay hopefully not ten or fifteen years, but you know what I mean. I’ll be waiting for you.”

In a few days, my newfound journey will be upon the both of us. We will be hundreds of miles apart for the first time ever. Granted, we’ve only been together for three months and 17 days, but still. This first month will be unbearable, but my birthday will relieve all of that. Those two days when he comes to visit will be glorious - showing him around campus and Blacksburg, taking him out to dinner and refusing to let him pay only to give into his persuasion, the two nights we’ll be able to spend together, the emptiness inside myself being filled with his presence. But just thinking about leaving makes me want to cry. With another boom, the skies open up and it begins to rain. It seems as though mother nature is crying for us. But instead I lay my head on his shoulder and sob. He gently tells me, “Everything will be okay. We’ll need to be strong, but we’ll have breaks and summers together. At most we won’t see each other for a month, so we should be grateful for that. I love you more than anything in the world. And we will make it through this. We’ve already overcome troubles that were in our way. This is just another one of those troubles.” And then I just keep crying because the feeling of love is just so great and I’m so happy I’ve found someone to share my experiences with.

The rain ceases and the storm passes justly prompting me to get home. Leaving is always a struggle. Every few steps we stop and kiss with the occasional smack on the ass if I’m walking in the lead. Downstairs into the family room, then across into the kitchen we slowly trek. I sometimes stop to pet Jasmine but she usually ends up running away from me. We aren’t exactly best friends yet, but we’ll get there. The way home is even more difficult. Sure, it’s only ten minutes away, but it won’t be very soon. I blare our two songs in the car: David Choi’s “I Can Get Used To This” and “Our Song”. And then I drive home, at least the place I call home for now. Soon enough, home will be with my one, my best friend, my super-dooper-Dan. Our future will be so great; however, I guess I’ll have to settle with what I have.

But for now let us toast to a life of happiness, love, and great sex.

Upon this earth, many people roam free undistinguished by any peculiar quality. And there are people who are unable to roam because of hardships they need to deal with. And there are people who are not free at all. But many of these people are able to pride themselves in who they are and who they’ve become even though they may not be perfect. Because perfection, you see, is impossible and a true paradox. People like to think they’re perfect, but in reality, that mindset of thinking one is perfect is a blatant imperfection. The true perfect people are the ones who brace to embrace any and all imperfections they have because imperfections make one unique. And uniqueness, in turn, is a perfect quality to have. Uniqueness is what distinguishes each and every one of us apart; thus, we are all unique and therefore we are all perfect. No matter what anyone else cares to say. Inside and out, everyone is perfect.