To my close friends…

To my friends, my people, those who get me, who support me.

To you who listen to my coherent and incoherent babble, my woes and my joys, my bad jokes.

Those who share bouts of uncontrollable laughter that leaves us close to tears.

I thank you for being there, you mean more to me then you probably realise.

There was a time when I dreamt of having friends like you. Now it seems your right there – exactly when I need you, lighting up my life. I have realised that when I’m down you are the ones who will make me happy, make me smile, bring me out of the downward spiral. For this, I thank you.

I love you all. I can’t imagine my world without you.

To a lifelong friend…

Dear Friend,

You are one of my closest friends and I count myself incredibly fortunate to have met you so early in life. I am so grateful that I can ring you up after six months and feel like we haven’t missed a beat.

You tick all the boxes on true friendship. I think one of your absolute best qualities is your loyalty. I know that I could ask you for anything and you would drop everything and do your best to help and that loyalty extends to many others as well. You go through amazing efforts to maintain your relationships with your friends. I’ve watched you help people through their issues and you’ve always done so with kindness and caring in your heart.

I enjoy reminiscing on all the amazing times we’ve had, from playing hockey as kids, to afterschool video game marathons, to underage drinking, and overnight trips to Mexico but it’s your freakish memory for seemingly insignificant events that provides a unique depth and texture to our friendship. Those memories, in many ways, are more incredible because they show the attention and importance of our friendship to you.

I admire you for making the decision to change your career, despite having the stability that so many seek. I admire you for getting involved with your community and doing the volunteering you do now. I admire your ability to stay grounded but without losing ‘the dream’. I love your willingness to meet new people and maintain so many friendships.

I thank you for understanding me. And despite the mistakes I’ve made in our friendship, I’ve never sensed resentment or anger from you.

I hope you know I will be there for you whenever, wherever in whatever way I can.

Your Lifelong friend

To the unknown man…

To the Unknown Man donning your daughter’s pink backpack as you walked her to school early in the morning. Thank you for making taking the time to make her walk to school just that much safer. I am sure you were in a rush to get off to work, but in that moment, in her eyes, you were her entire world. She looked up at you with such fondness an admiration. It reminded me to take time for the important things in life. To enjoy the conversation regardless of the topic, for it might mean a tremendous amount to the person telling it; to make sure that loved ones are safe and cared for; to not be afraid of seeing the world through a child’s eyes; and to show your love to those around you and mean it.

Thank you for reminder.

To Kozen Yoga

I went into my yoga studio one day after having not been for a few weeks and fresh off a couple of extremely rough days. One of the owners of the studio recognised this and after the class gave me a voucher for a few free classes and a key chain. This is a [somewhat similar] note I sent to them…

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Dear **** and ****,

Thank you for your gift of a yoga pass and a key chain. It was extremely generous and came at a very needed time. I love the yoga practice that you offer and I especially love the sense of community you create in your studio. This environment means that I leave the studio feeling both physically better and mentally refreshed. The kindness and community mindedness you preach and practice can only help the growth of your amazing studio. Please keep doing the amazing job you do. Thanks again.

****

 

To my father…

It was recently the first anniversary of my Grandfather’s passing. When thinking about him, I often found myself thinking about my dad and how much he has meant to me. This is a note for him.

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Dear Dad,

Thank you. There is no way I can thank you enough for what you have meant to me over the years. I count myself to be very fortunate in having such a good relationship with you. There are so many things, lessons, and traits that I am so very happy to have.

I always remember when I was VERY young. Not sure how old, but we made a bet on something for a penny. And I lost. And you made me pay it. And I was SO angry at you because you were my Dad and I didn’t think it was fair. But it made a point. Don’t commit to something unless you are willing to go through with it. Don’t risk what you’re not willing to lose.

Your willingness to explore new things and your involvement with so many activities guided me in the path of being a well rounded person. I love the fact that I can play sports, play guitar, speak publically, lead youth groups, act and whatever else that I do and have done. Thank you for opening my mind to so many possibilities. My world is richer because of it.

Your desire to do what you want has helped me in my path as well. While I know you’d rather have me living close by, I’m blessed by your understanding that this phase of life needed me to come to Australia. Watching you pursue different careers and more education helped me to continue to see the value of learning.

I’ve been praised for being a good teacher. That comes from you. Your ability to reframe problems, to explain things in a different way has directly shaped the way that I lead groups and teach people.

I remember playing ‘21’ against you at a Stampede party, church picnic or something like that. I remember the first game where I MAY have shut you out (you might’ve got a consolation basket at the end). I attempted to return to the festivities and that idea was nixed quickly and a rematch was demanded immediately. I do not recall the outcome of that game. It helps remind me that occasionally, the better person loses and that it’s not the end of world, you can get up and fight back.

I love the story of you shooting tennis balls at my mouth to knock out my loose tooth with me blissfully unaware. It’s a reminder that you can always find ways to make unpleasant tasks more enjoyable as well as finding unique solutions to problems.

You came and played tennis ball soccer with us at lunch time when I was at Marion Carson. One time we had arranged the teams so it was a few of us (who were ‘good’) versus the rest. I tried to claim you for my team but you recognised the situation and played for the other team to make it more fair. That concept of fairness is something I still value.

Dad, you’ve been a role model, a mentor, a teacher, a friend. The simpler way to say all of that is to say that you’ve been a father. And I count myself so blessed that you’ve been my father.

I love you tremendously.

Your son

To an ex…

From many years ago…

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Hello ***,

I’m sorry about how we ended. I know it is a long time ago, but I feel guilty and upset and only now have begun to realize how it must have hurt you. For some reason I thought that my actions were fine, but if you were doing the same thing that wasn’t ok. My apologies for being stupid and immature. That was still one of the best summers I’ve had and thank you for that. You really did mean a lot to me and I had a lot of fun. I wish you nothing but the best.

To my friends…

I was moving across the world and was fortunate enough to have a night with many of my closest friends. It was a fantastic night and I took the time to say something to everyone there. This is a rough transcript of that…

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First of all, thank you. Thank you for being here and thank you for being my friend. Thank you for supporting me and allowing me to support you. I’m always amazed at what a fantastic group of friends I have and how many of those friends I’ve known for a long time. Each of you here has touched my life in some way and helped to shape me into who I am today.

AC, I admire your drive and your focus. You know what you want and you are always taking steps to get there. Your honesty and strength are an important part of who you are. You are always sincere in your conversations without losing the ability to have a laugh. You seem to have been able to keep a personal and social life going even with the demanding career you have chosen. I’m glad we’ve had the opportunity in the last year to get to know each other better and I wish you the best as you start your legal career.

MW, I’m impressed at the way you constantly seem to tackle a new challenge or a new task. When we first met you were a dedicated hockey player, then you focused on football, became an academic and are now an excellent musician. To constantly take on such diverse new things and excel in them is amazing. We’ve been friends for such a long time, that there is no period of my life that I can remember that you have not been my friend for. It’s always been a pleasure to compete with you (although competing against you brought the occasional challenge to our friendship) and there aren’t too many people who can connect on a sporting ground like we can. I hope that you can get the break you need to make a run at the musician thing and am willing to help you wherever I can.

LN, you have been a friend for a long time. From Bloomsday, to drunk wrestling til I got hit in the nuts to playing and writing music together, we’ve done it all. You’ve been someone who has been a great friend for support and a great friend to party with. I admire the relationship you have with your family and you constant focus on your passions. Between the duffmobile and the pimpin plymouth we had the old school cars nailed! I love the fact that we can be apart for a long time but pick up our friendship right where we left off.

MW, I really enjoyed getting to know you better over the course of the last few years. Living together was always a blast and we shared some great times. I certainly enjoyed showing you my testicles, although I’m not sure you enjoyed it as much. You were a great roommate and I’ve always enjoyed sharing a beer with you. I’m glad you’ve found your partner and hope you’ll find your dream home soon!

JP, I’ve really enjoyed developing our friendship over the last little while. It’s added a fun twist to a crazy summer. I always enjoyed the different things we found ourselves doing. You have always found a way to show your friendship through the little things, Pink Deep V’s, a random text message. Over the last year we’ve been able to help each other along and have learned more about ourselves because of each other. I look forward to continuing our friendship and hopefully staying in touch and I’m excited for you to have your next travel adventure!

AD, we have shared many tears together. More than anyone, I know you will not judge me no matter what I do. You are always full of love and support. From our foolishness as theatre managers in high school to mentoring the youth leaders who have replaced us, we have truly spanned an amazing range of emotions. You’ve always been there in the times I’ve felt alone. I’m honoured to be your friend and I know we will always stay in touch.

OF, You’ve been a friend, a roommate and a co-worker. As soon as we start dating, I don’t know if there’s anything else we could be. You always have found a way to keep me laughing (occasionally at, but mostly with) and you still find new ways to amaze me. You’ve been a friend who has always been there, and you seem to call me right when I need a friend. You are one of the most loyal friends I know and will drop anything to be there in five minutes for someone who needs it. Your wide range of activities and your ability to find a common bond with anybody means I’ve met so many different and amazing people that I probably never would have had I not known you. I wish you the best in California or the Netherlands or wherever your path may take you.

KA, The three and a half years we spent together taught me so much. I’ve learned that sometimes my way isn’t actually the best way. I’ve learned to let people think before they speak and that silence does not mean a lack of opinion. We climbed mountains together, we walked through downpours together, we cooked together but the times I remember are the times we laughed or cried or dreamed together. Most importantly, my time with you introduced me to real love and everything that comes with it. Thank you for being who you are and making me who I am.

CB, you always seem to know what I’m going to do before I do. You were the first and only one to truly believe I would be staying in Oz. We’ve shared so many experiences and truly spent many of our formative and late teenage years getting each other into and out of trouble. Despite the fact that we have not seen each other as much in the last many years, I know that all the distance and time is erased after five minutes. Because of you I’ve tried new things, met new people and have had countless unbelievable experiences. I have so many memories from our adventures together and countless memories that I have forgotten for one reason or another………. I’m sure our adventure book has not seen its final chapter yet.

KS, you are my baby sister and always will be. I love that we have such a close relationship and feel so fortunate to have you as a sister and, more importantly, a friend. You probably understand the random functions that occur in my brain more than anyone else. There’s so much you have taught me and I hope you have learned something from the various paths I’ve wondered. You are amazingly talented in so many areas, but the one place you consistently impress me is with your drive to succeed. You simply have to do your best, all the time and that is something I wish I could learn from you. I’m going to miss you a lot and I’m going to miss seeing your successes that are sure to come soon.

Thank you all for continuing to be my friend and continuing to come to my going away parties/gatherings even as they seem to turn into a yearly event. I truly cherish the support you’ve given me, the drunken rides I’ve received, the opportunity to support you through your hard times. You’ve kept me out of trouble and got me into trouble and that’s a good sign of friendship.

I know that some of you won’t see each other as much after I’ve left, so please take a moment to cherish the energy and the amazing people in this room tonight.

I ask you each to continue the journeys you are on, know where you are headed and how you want to get there. But also take time to enjoy the ride you are on and most importantly, those you are sharing it with.