Gratitude, Day 4

I'm grateful for my friends, however scattered over the globe they might be.  That's why they invented Skype.

I hesitate to call out specific people while giving thanks, but Christian deserves his own shout out.  A chance meeting at EFY in 1997 to cross-continental BFFs is a special thing. 

I'm grateful for his dedication to living a boyband life, as it provides lots of entertainment.  Except when he calls me when I'm out in public and "I Want It That Way" starts blaring from my phone.  He's Nick Carter, btw.

I'm grateful that when I decided to move to AZ from DC, he scrambled to help me pack up all my stuff in one day, after I miraculously found someone driving a moving van across the country, but I had to get everything loaded by the next evening.  Christian picked me up after work, we went to Uhaul to get boxes and we packed.  And then he came over again with friends the next night to help me load it all.  It was a humid summer day.  

I'm thankful that when I was lonely in AZ, he shared friends and family from his home state with me, so I'd have people to hang out with once I got there.  They are some of the best people I know. 

I'm grateful that he was visiting me in Arizona and wasn't in the car with me when I had a car accident on my way to the Grand Canyon in 2008.  He hijacked my grandma's Lincoln, drove two hours and found five weary people hanging out at the Denny's of Flagstaff who needed a ride back to Phoenix.  My friends were visiting from DC and he asked them how they liked hiking Camel....back Mountain, except he didn't say 'back.'  I still laugh thinking about that moment.  

I'm grateful that he let me crash a wedding with him so I could finally visit Northern California. 

I'm glad that when I was hating AZ after only being there for a few months, I could fly right back to DC, crash his house, and go on a roadtrip to Philly for cheesesteaks.  

And then a month later I'd go back and he'd make sure I didn't die at my one and only Duck Beach experience.  Because it's kind of overwhelming.  

I'm grateful that he convinced me to go to Puerto Rico over Valentine's Day and got us sweet hotel rooms with all his points from work travel.  I'll refrain from posting him singing an 'N Sync song in Spanish that I have from that trip.  But it was a stellar weekend.

 We crashed the private beach at the Ritz.

 And he's not too cool to wear a linen suit.

I'm amazed and thankful that we're still friends after all these years, despite only living in the same city for a year together.  I know I can call him anytime.  He still provides me with a little wisdom, some guidance, and lots of entertainment.  Slick, te corazono! EFY for life.