WE ARRRRRRRE!

I couldn't let the day go by without wishing a Happy Birthday to a wonderful person.

I actually met this person about (oh boy does this age both of us) 27 years ago. In high school, he dated a friend of mine and to be honest, I didn't actually "know-know" him. Really just knew of him. However, what I did know of him is that he smiled a lot. In fact, I vividly remember his smile. He always seemed to have it on. I remember associating his name with being a nice guy. But for the most part, we ran around with different crowds.

Or so I thought.

Fast-forward this year. One night while visiting with his mom, she brought me a photo album. Now, if my parents had pulled out of photo album of me, I would have intercepted it immediately and spiked it under the bed of the nearest room.

But he didn't. And I'm thankful that didn't happen.

I start looking through it. Elementary school photos. Pee-wee football. Middle school. Family Christmas's. Then high school. Yep, that's the smile I remembered.

I turned a page to see a black and white picture of him sitting on a bench. I looked at it and must have gotten a grin on my face that wasn't the normal, "Oh, what a good picture" because he looked at me and asked, "What?".

Then came over to see what I was looking at. Embarrassed, he said, "Oh. Yeah. That was my picture for 'Most Handsome'.".

"Yeah. I know."

"You do? You remember that?"

"Ummmmmm...yeah. Mainly because I took it."

He looked at me, then said, "Oh my gosh...you're right. That was you!"

Since then, we've gone over various high school highlights and discovered how often we were in the same place at the same time. It took Megan Fox (don't ask) to bring our paths back to a crossing point.

I have to admit, the first few month of getting to know him, I wanted to slap him silly. We reacquainted through a sarcastic remark (I know...shocking) on Facebook, then discovered we were going through similar circumstances. Therefore, we tried to lift each other up, as friends do. Encourage each other. Even give relationship advice to the other person.

But now, I'm very happy to be getting to know this man. I've discovered a strong, both physical and mental, person. One who would give the shirt off his back to help anyone. Relentlessly loyal and honest. Generous, sometimes to a fault. :-) And I actually mean that as a compliment. A person who has put a smile on my face more times than I can count and has literally put me in physical pain from laughing so hard. Many times. I have never met someone who likes to joke around and have fun...any kind of fun...more than him. In many ways, he's still just a big kid. In fact, there's been a couple of times I've had to talk him out of pretending he's the guy in that AT&T commercial who doesn't get the message about the flash mob changing time, and he embarrassingly starts dancing. One day, I *know* this will actually happen and somehow, I will have been talked into video taping it.

He's a father who loves his children more than life and brags on them constantly. A very proud Devil Dog, aka Marine. One of the most respectful people I know. A gentlemen beyond measure...if you are a female, you will never see him let you open your own door. He still says, "Yes ma'am" and "Yes Sir" to those older than him. If he doesn't want someone to pick up the check, he won't argue about it...he will simply do something let the waitress know on his way to the restroom and will have paid for it before you even realize what just occurred. Extremely supportive in anything I do, while still being 'protective' when appropriate. Puts up with a certain 8 year-old little girl referring to him as "Crispy Peanut Butter and Jelly" and endless questions about his life as a Marine from an 11 year-old young man. A professional clean freak (it's okay if the sink has water droplets in it! I promise!). But most importantly, a man who is not just comfortable talking about what Christ has done in his life, but enthusiastic about it.

So Chad...I hope you have a wonderful birthday. You deserve it. Thank you for being such a supportive person in my life. I know you didn't pack all the baggage I tend to carry around, but you've done an amazing job of helping me slowly unpack it and try and figure out where it goes.

Here's to you on your day :-)... enjoy! But please don't take this as a form of encouragement to live this out...especially when I'm around.