My very good friend, Brandon Palma, is my very good friend. I have been without him for some months now and it's wearing on me. He is doing an incredible job interning for the spring
Brandon and I have a very simple/complex friendship. Simple when it needs to be, when it's easy, and complicated like any other life-long friendship is inevitably. Brandon is the friend I can share any kind of feeling with - simple or complex. It can be the feeling of the weather, the feeling of a movie, song, moment, conversation, impending doom situation or just a ridiculous or funny situation. I can be a cryer with Brandon, I can be vulnerable, I can be a girl, I can be quiet, I can be sad, I can be simply happy, I can be fun, I can be stressed, I can be tired, I can be scatterbrained, I can be a singer, I can be a musician, I can be a peacemaker, I can be a person who rants and I can be a better person. I say all these things not to describe who I am, but to describe moments of our friendship. Every single one of these things "I can be" have significant meaning to me and Brandon because they trigger certain memories that have happen between us in these past years of friendship.
semester of INVISIBLE CHILDREN. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php
He has been working very, very hard for a great cause and purpose. He has even shattered some Invisible Children records while he has been there. I think he has learned a lot and grown so much more than I am able to tell right now. I just miss him being here. It's only for a few months, but it feels like so much longer. Brandon and I have gone to two events together every year since we were old enough. The Youth Drama Retreat (7th-12th grades) and J.A.M. Kamp (4th-6th grades.) We participated every year as campers and have gone on to be leaders at these events (he is now 23 and I am 22.) Since he's been gone, he has missed our Youth Drama Retreat and he will be gone for or Talent Showcase. He will miss my birthday, Easter, and he will be gone right up until J.A.M Kamp. This is making me miss him more than ever because these are all big events in our lives every year and he is such an important part of them all. This is the spring without him and it's so weird and feels so wrong. I am glad he is doing this intership, I am. I just miss him. Brandon has such a big heart and I am glad he gets to spread it around! I hope the people that are with him now know how lucky they are!
Brandon and I have a very simple/complex friendship. Simple when it needs to be, when it's easy, and complicated like any other life-long friendship is inevitably. Brandon is the friend I can share any kind of feeling with - simple or complex. It can be the feeling of the weather, the feeling of a movie, song, moment, conversation, impending doom situation or just a ridiculous or funny situation. I can be a cryer with Brandon, I can be vulnerable, I can be a girl, I can be quiet, I can be sad, I can be simply happy, I can be fun, I can be stressed, I can be tired, I can be scatterbrained, I can be a singer, I can be a musician, I can be a peacemaker, I can be a person who rants and I can be a better person. I say all these things not to describe who I am, but to describe moments of our friendship. Every single one of these things "I can be" have significant meaning to me and Brandon because they trigger certain memories that have happen between us in these past years of friendship.Now, honestly, Brandon can get on my last nerve. We have had misunderstandings, we have had fights, we have had heated discussions, but after each fight we have, there is always a clearing we come to where we are still friends at the end of the bumpy road. How many friends do you have that are actually, really, intently there for you every time, always, no matter what? When you are around someone for so long, you take them for granted and for short periods of time every little thing they do you can come to criticize. However, in these past couple of months, I have seen how I tend to take his friendship for granted. Sure he's just a phone call away, but there is something about sitting in the coffee shop with your friend and talking face to face when you need to talk through something. That is just the converstaion that inspired this blog entry.
I had something pressing on me and I had talked to many people about it, but I didn't feel settled about the subject. Then I randomly texted Brandon something really funny about someone, but unrepeatable for the weak stomached reader. That text told Brandon of my awkward situation and he was having a "bust" day as well. Although funny, this conversation reminded us when we are having an awkward or bad day, we just need to talk to our friends about it and get it off our chest. So he called me and we talked for 30 minutes about what was going on in his world and I got to talk about my pressing matter. Brandon was just the person I needed to talk to. I feel more settled about the situation and I know Brandon knows I can do it and will be great at it. If you have your friends behind you, you can go ahead. I was going to say, "If you have your friends behind you, you can't fail." That's not true though. I might fail, I might regret the decision, I might be in over my head, but it's okay because Brandon, and a handful of my close friends, will still be there no matter how simple or complex the journey may be and that means the world to me.
BRANDON - Good luck, Pal! You know I love you more than my luggage. Remember the same last few sentences go for you too! Do good. Be Brave. ABC FO' LIFE.
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