A year to remember...

So 2005 is just about over. Wow. It's been a wild one.

I would have to say that of all of my 21 years, this would have to be the most memorable. So much happened this year. There was good and there was bad. I made mistakes and learned from them and I accomplished a lot as well. Some of the best memories I have ever had will come from this year. I went into it just as I did any other year - crap; another year of disappointments is coming. Well I sure did learn my lesson there. I started the new year in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with two dear friends of mine and one goal in mind. Have fun. I wanted to make the most of this past year. I didn't want to miss out on anymore opportunities or pass up on any chances. I wanted to seize not just the day but the year as a whole. At times I faltered and stumbled and I fell short, but in the long run I think I accomplished my goal. About 6 years ago now I had a chance for something amazing - something that I wanted so badly. I passed up on it. I told myself at the beginning of this year that if I ever had that chance again I wouldn't miss it for the world. Well I got it. And I grasped it. Sure -- it didn't wind up as I thought it would at the beginning, but at least I got it. This year has been a year of answered prayer. Of gifts. Of opportunities and happiness. It was a year of sadness, loss, heartbreak and let-downs. It was a year of joy, memories I will never forget, a relationship I will never forget and wouldn't give up for anything, the making of new friends and the loss of old ones, a year of changes and adjusting, a year of patience and hostility, a year of giving and a year of receiving, a year of tears and laughter, a year of spiritual ups and downs, a year of lessons learned, a year of death and a year of life, a year I found out I will be the uncle to a nephew, a year I got what I've always wanted, a year I lost it, a year of second chances, a year of third and fourth and fifth ones too, a year of first-times and last-times, my last year at home, a year of love-gained and love-lost, a year of falling in love all over again and again and again for the first time, a year that God loved me and stayed with me, a year I was taught about grace and forgiveness, a year I met Jasmine -- one of the most beautiful people I have ever had the privilege of meeting, a year I rode and got rocked by a mechanical bull, a year I finally got to go to an amusement park with that special someone, a year I finally cracked and made a scrapbook -- that's right, a year I had my first one-month, a year I had my first break-up, my 21st birthday, a year of kisses, holding hands, dancing under the moonlight and sweating to death, a year of weddings, a year of looking dead sexy... :) ... a year of humility, a year I probably spent more money than any other, and so many other things I would probably never finish this list. All in all -- it was an amazing year. One that will not be forgotten. Although I am not where I thought I would be right now with who I thought I would be with, although things have changed recently, although some things just didn't go as planned -- I've been blessed. With another year with my wonderful family, meeting new friends and forming bonds that will stay with me forever, crying tears of happiness from just a touch -- a look. I'll never forget it. Ever. Thank You for making it possible.

...and thank you. Even though it didn't go like I -- we thought, if I could go back and know what I know now I would do it all over again.

Love.

believe. LIVE.

- david