They’re The Ones

This is a special one. This is about my friends. My best friends in the whole world. It’s really about my family because that’s what they’ve come to be for me. One thing I’ve come to learn is that you really become those you keep around you. To me, it’s kinda like the “you are what you eat” saying. It’s pretty simple. If you keep good people around you, the hope, or the outcome is that you yourself will become “good” too, whatever that means to you, and vice versa. I’ve been fortunate enough to come across what I would consider some of the best people in the world. Like I said in the beginning, my friends really are my family. I think of them as my brothers and sisters. I have one younger blood brother who is my best friend out of everyone (whether we act like it or not), but the true and real friends I’ve made throughout childhood, high school, and college might as well be blood to me. Some of them I don’t talk to as much anymore, but whenever we do talk, we can pick it up right where we left off at. And for those of you that may automatically be thinking that I’m just talking about “guy friends”, I definitely have really close friends that are girls too. I’ve been really blessed in my life with the people I have around me. 

Might sound cliché or whatever, but I think it’s really important to have all types of friends in your life. Have people from different backgrounds around you. People that have different experiences than you. People that have different viewpoints, upbringings, religions, different races and ethnicities and so on. You know where I’m going with that. But it’s true. I’m reading this book called “The Courage to be Disliked” and the thing that’s stuck out to me the most so far is how everyone sees the world differently. My world looks totally different than yours. Some parts of the world may look the same to both of us, but for the most part, everything else is different. The point in bringing that up is because you should want to have friends around you that are willing to share their view of the world with you. I’ve learned so much from my friends over the years. I’ve gained different viewpoints, learned different opinions, come to like new music, pretty much anything you can think of. Keep people around you that challenge your thinking. Keep people around you that share their world with you. I think those are the best people to keep around. The ones that add value to your life. The ones that keep things interesting. The ones that spark thought provoking conversations. The ones that make you smile when you see them. People that you can genuinely say you enjoy their company. 

I swear I’m gonna get better at these transitions, but I definitely appreciate and still love all of my friends from back home. They are really the people that helped me become who I am today. Growing up with the “Southside Boys”, Donovan and Devin. Friends I grew up with in church. Niles and Roman Elmore. D.J. and Jordan Watkins. My best friends from high school. The Cobb twins. Camden Cusamano. Jordan and Amber Bethel. Jack Patterson. My cousins who I think of more as friends than anything else. Jordan, Amina, and Alexis. I could keep going with a list of names, but to know me, is to know them. As I’m going into my senior year of college, I can’t help but think about how blessed I am to have met the people I have along the way. Again, I’m not going to name everyone because you would be reading names forever. For those of you reading, you and I both know I’m talking about you. All of these people I’ve mentioned are so special to me. They’re the people I know for a fact will be at my wedding. They’re the ones I know for a fact that I will be at their weddings. They’re the people I’m going to leave my kids with when I go on vacation with my wife. They’re the ones I’m going to go on couples’ vacations with and do all that other “grown-up” stuff with. They’re the ones I’m going to celebrate life with for however long we’re on this Earth for. Again, if you’re reading this and you know I’m talking about you, you’re my guys. You’re my girls. You’re my people. You’re my family. I’m always here for you and I’ll always love you. I wouldn’t want to be in anyone else’s corner or have anyone else in mine. You all have supported me through everything. Some of you have helped me stay in school. All of you have done more for me than you actually know. I could probably write a book with a chapter about each one of you in it (next thing to do on my list). I really could keep going on about this forever it seems like. Maybe I’ll do a part two one day. Who knows? You’ll just have to wait and find out. 

I’m also thankful for my parents because they raised me right. They raised me to have friends like the ones I just talked about. So, to wrap things up, I hope you have friends like I do. Not necessarily the same kind of people because we all need and gravitate towards different people, but I mean that to say I hope you have those people around you that make you feel this same kind of emotion. The ones that will make you want to write and dedicate a damn blog post about one day. Those ones. And yes, this whole thing is dedicated to you. If you want to keep reading you can, but this next part is specifically for them. My “friends”, but really my family. Like I may have already said, you all are such a blessing. I want you to know that. I really don’t know what I would do without any of you, or where I would be. If you’re getting all emotional and whatnot, it’s okay cause I am too writing this. I really gave myself a good idea about the whole book thing too by the way. Maybe one day you’ll be able to read it. Just know in the meantime that you’re the ones.