Happy Birthday, Drew!

I met Drew when we were both 15, so we're pushing 10 years of togetherness (with some widely remembered, less-than-pleasant moments of not-togetherness interspersed, of course). In so many ways, he's still the same dang kid today that he was when he walked into my 10th grade biology class with his black Led Zepplin t-shirt, long blonde hair, and chip on his shoulder about his family's recent transplant to Richmond Hill, GA, of all places. Today, he's toned down the music snobbery and warmed up to living in swampy Richmond Hill, but he still has the same distaste for school, the same tough guy persona, the same yellow hair (although much shorter), the same fiery nature that made me want to be close to him even then, and the same sense of familiarity, like I always knew and needed and belonged with him.

And today, I still have the same dang crush on him.

Happy Birthday, Drew!

I love you, lovey.