So, I got a penpal in the fifth grade. If I remember correctly, his teacher was my teacher's teacher when my teacher was in elementary school. Clear as mud? At least, I think that's how it worked. I really didn't pay all that much attention. It could have been that his teacher was my teacher's friend in school or something. I really don't know for sure. However, the first one sounds right to me. So anyways, my teacher told us that we were going to have penpals. He (Mr. Lynn...one of my favorite teachers EVER)told us that here wasn't a specific person we had been paired up with yet, but that each student from each class was going to write a letter starting with "Dear Penpal," then the teachers would read the letters and pair us up by common interests, etc. I think most letters written were about half a page long. Mine was six pages. The letter I got was from a boy...Seth. According to Mr. Lynn, we were paired up because we both wrote these really long letters, even though there wasn't a particular person we were writing to, so any two people who could ramble on for six pages to no one in particular deserved to be paired up. LOL Hey, what can I say. I like to write about myself ;) So, that was 16 years ago. Would you believe we're still writing? Granted, it's moved to email now. I actually have an entire box stuffed FULL of almost every letter he ever wrote me. I wish I had thought to print out all of the emails though. That would have been a good idea.

He moved from New Hampshire, to New York to go to college. He lived in New York from then until just this month, when he moved to...are you ready for this?...Is the suspense killing you?...LOS ANGELES!!!! Wooohooo, he's only two hours away from me! I'm so totally thrilled about this. We've only seen eachother twice. One time he came out to California specifically to see me, then another time he was out here visiting someone else, but made sure to visit me even though it was WAY out of his way. Now, we're hoping to meet up at least once a month. I'm totally stoked about this. It's odd how even though we've only actually seen eachother twice, I still consider him one of my closest friends. His friendship has lasted longer than any other friendship I have ever had. (Well, then there's Sean, who I've known pretty much my entire life, but there was quite the hiatus in our friendship after I moved away from Fremont until the passing of our parents renewed our friendship) Seth is the one person I feel like I can tell absolutely anything and everything to. He was the first person I called to cry to when I found out my dad was dying. He's the one person I can just let it all out to. It's odd how close two people can become through just the written word.

The thing I love the most about Seth...I'm so comfortable around him. The first time he came out to visit, I thought it would be so awkward. We had been writing back and forth for over a decade, but we had never actually met. He left a message on my answering machine on...hmmm, I want to say a Tuesday...that basically said, "I'd like to fly out to California to see you on Thursday if that's okay. Give me a call and let me know." Of course I said, "Please, come!" But, I was SO nervous! I had all of these horrible thoughts of, "What if we don't actually get along? What if he totally hates me? What if the first day here we get in some huge fight over something and it completely ruins this friendship? What if we're both two totally different people on paper than we are in real life?" Apparently I really had nothing to worry about. (Other than the baby's room FULL of clothes all over the floor that he wasn't supposed to go into, but did, which embarassed the heck out of me. I swear I had been sorting clothes for Good Will and just hadn't bagged them up yet!!!) From the moment I met him at the airport to the moment I dropped him off to go home, I felt like we had been friends our entire lives. There didn't seem to be a single awkward moment. Here's a pic from that trip. (This is us in San Francisco)

The next time he came to visit, all of the same fears returned. Again, no reason for those fears. Things were perfect.

So, now, even though both times he has visited my fears have been unfounded, I find myself fearing those things again. How stupid is that? This is the guy I've been friends with for almost two decades. He's been through EVERYTHING with me, if only through letters. He has given me more advice in my life than anyone else. He's listened while I cried over boys, he's listened while I bitched about my family and friends, he's listened while I poured my heart out over the fear of losing my dad. He's been the person I turn to when I have no one else to turn to, yet the fear of screwing things up and losing that friendship is still there.

Enough of that though...I'm SO excited about actually being able to spend a good amount of time with him, if only once a month or so!