HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY, JAY!

I almost forgot! I guess you, my faithful readers, get to have two posts by me today as I pay tribute to my cousin on this day of November 8, 2005. He is turning 29 today, 1 year away from the dreaded 30, and what better way to salute him than to embarrass the crap out of him with some old photos? So this is for you kid! I may not be able to laugh long since you're only 5 months and a few days older than me, but until then I'm chuckling and gaffawing all day every day. :)

So first up, a little background. Jay and I have somewhat similar backgrounds, being the same age practically and both being raised by single mothers. His father was around more than mine, but it was still rough. We were inseparable as kids. We even got a lot of the same presents. We did pretty much everything together. Heck, we even went to school together and lived together for a few years. But things weren't always peachy. We were kids and we did have our moments.

There were some differences between us too, and I'm talking besides the obvious noticeable one you'll see in the pics below. :) Jay is a natural athlete and was always playing some sort of ball and watching some sort of sport. I, on the other hand, was more of the artist, always reading and drawing. I did get out there and play my share of sports in the apartment complex we lived in and it was a blast. I have never had as much fun since we played baseball and football back in the day. We'd go out there in the rain and play football in the mud. I sucked, but it was so much fun who cared? And baseball (or tennis ball more appropriately) was a blast, especially when we'd break a window and take off running. Lol. Hey, it only happened a couple of times.

We also used to play guns and Kool-Aid. Guns was fun because we'd make teams and take hostages. It was really cool. Kool-Aid was like Hide and Seek, only each person had a color, and the way to catch them was for the person who was "it" to call out their color if they saw them. This was not an easy task when you take into consideration at times that person would have to remember 20+ colors!

As we grew up we started to drift apart for various reasons. Our lives took two completely different paths and we had completely different interests. We still had and have some common interests though, like wrestling, video games and Archie Comics, a constant in our youth. But Jay still plays a lot of ball (I heard he recently broke his finger or something. I hope you get that one fixed, bro. ;) ) and likes to go to clubs and dance and stuff. He's always busy with friends or whatever. We live about 20-25 minutes from one another and I literally only see him two-four times a year-Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. It's really sad, and it's neither of our fault really I don't guess, it's just the way it is.

I, on the other hand was really devoted to church and more importantly to God, so I took that path. Jay used to be in church with me, but for his own reasons he hasn't been for a long time. We all know what my basic interests are, and that's what I spend most of my time doing. At the moment I don't really have a lot of friends, so I don't go out much, but I'm fine with that.

Anyway, though Jay and I have had our rough spots throughout the years, I love him and he'll always be my boy. The day I get married (if that ever happens) he'll be my best man (or one of them as my brother will be one too) and I hope someday I'll be his, if that ever happens. lol. No matter what happens we know each other better than anyone on the planet, and I'll always have his back no matter what. We're blood, we're friends and we're family.

Jay, regardless of what's happened in the past, bro, you and I are thick; we're real, playa. I love ya, and I got you. This is for you, cuz. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

(Click on the thumbnails to enlarge)