People come into and out of our lives all the time. They do this so often and at such different times it's odd to me. This last weekend was a goodbye weekend for my roommate of three years Adam. He is moving back to England which is where he was born and raised for a good part of his younger life. Now he may only be moving there for a few months and then coming back. He's not sure how it's really going to play out. I'm very happy for him and proud he has made such a grown up choice. However I'm going to miss this man a ton. I have been trying to play it off like it's not really going to effect me, cause I have dealt with people leaving or I have moved away from people quite a lot in the last 10 years or so. This is true I don't let people in very well, I don't know if that's due to being in the navy and having to leave people at different times and having people come in and out of my life. That thick skin is only so thick.
Adam and I have been friends now for close to 7 years. I have not had a steady friend like that since high school which was close to 11 years ago. We did not start off a close friends to be honest I'm pretty sure I annoyed him and he was kind of rude to people he first met. After spending a few weeks hanging out with him when he moved down to Ventura from Santa Barbara because a friend of mine told me to hang out with him, and I had no one else to hang out with. I saw what I now know to be the attraction of Adam. Now I say attraction because he's the kind of guy that people in general want to be around. He makes them feel like they're cool. (maybe sometimes cooler than they really are) I also got to watch what a lot of people did not get to see, I got to watch as Adam grew from a boy that hated men and thought women were like prizes, into a man that treats everyone (even the people he can't stand) like they are a child of gods. For a long time I had to hear "why is Adam such an asshole?" to this I had to tell those people if you don't like how he treats you tell him. He had once told me if a person is not going to stand up for themselves it shows him how much they care about themselves. (I'm paraphrasing) With a person that ever body knows and lots of people want to be around and spend time with. A person like myself is sure to doubt there worth to a friend like this. I think that's what makes Adam special, that he makes you feel like the time you have shared with him is different from the time that everyone else has shared with him. In someway it feels like the relationship that I have with him is different than the relationship all his other friends have with him. That may or may not be true, but its nice to feel like your a special person to someone. I have the utmost faith that Adam will go far in this life. I hope that god sees fit to keep him in my life. I know that, that means I will have to put in the time and effort to keep this friendship strong. Which is something I feel like I have failed at in the past.
A.C.L.K, you have been an amazing friend and roommate, I will miss you while you are gone and look forward to the next time I get to see you. Take care and keep in touch.
Love Dennis
P.S. I will always raise an arm and yell out ENNNGGGGLLLAAANNNDD when I see those England freight trucks.