They Say It's Yer Birthday...

I know, I know - enough with the posts only meant for one person. Sorry - they just don't make them more important or deserving than The Blogger Formerly Known As FB - or is that the FB Formerly Known As A Blogger? Anyway, a lot of you love him, too, so here's your chance to share a little...

Long before you were FB, long before I was your first BF, you were special and different. Not just because you're gay, but because you're honest and all sorts of things most peope aren't. Not everyone knows how to deal with you, but that's just the curse of being a little cooler than everyone else. You're never been a circle merely trying to fit into squares, you're a fully 3-D sphere in a world that falls sadly flat. I have been honored to be there with you for more of that journey than I ever imagined I would ever travel with anyone. I'm not ashamed to say I'm your sidekick. I've been the Ethel to your Lucy, the Laverne to your Shirley. You will always be Batman (or the Joker or Catwoman - your pick) and I will always be Robin (or Harley Quinn or Cat-Thug #2 - again, your pick). Frankly, I've always preferred your favorite - I am definitely the Willow to your Buffy. You've got the obvious strength and I'm more tentative - and just a tad unstable enough to go dark inevitably.

No I will never be ashamed to be your sidekick - I'm only ashamed to say I haven't always been as good a sidekick as my hero deserved.

There were times when you helped steer me through the darkest waters I've ever navigated. No matter how crazy or lost I got, you were always there fighting for me and, when necessary, with me. No one in my life ever loved me as hard and true as you did. I may not always have shown it, but I saw it. I felt it. It changed me and saved me.

When I was child, I always wanted a brother. Really, I just wanted someone who would understand me. Don't get me wrong, I have the greatest sister in the entire world. But until we we were adults (a recent development for both of us!), we didn't really relate. I look back over my life and I realize that ungrateful brat who always wanted a brother got one in every sense of the word that matters. Family is not defined by blood, but by bond. There is no bond stronger than the true friendship you've shown me.

The brief history of us: Two gay boys (one closeted, the other impossible to hide) share mutual friends. Said friends introduce them (as straights often do when they only know two homos). Some years later, the weak one (that's me) finally works up the courage to admit his feelings. You fall for it for a while. We break up. You're still there. We stop talking (a few times, actually). You're still there. I fall to pieces. You pick me up. I fall a million more times. You're there, there, and there. Finally, I learn how to be a friend. There you are. And I am more than honored to have been there the whole time. I look so forward to the future and being there for more. Your loves. Your hurts. Your successes and your failures. The kids I hope you decide to have because you'll be an amazing father and I'll be one hell of an uncle/bad influence/godfather (yes, I'm staking my claim now!). I want to be there for all it and so much more.

I included your least favorite picture/my favorite (figures, don't it?) of us in this little missive. As you can see, it's obfsucated (I know you love it when I use 5 Dollar Words and pretend to be smart) so nobody can see that face. It isn't for anyone but you anyhow. And you know how we looked, holding those tickets to that Beck concert almost ten years ago. You may not think it was particularly flattering, but I love the picture because the look on my face spells how happy it made me then just to hover around your halo. It still makes me that happy. And when we blow out your candles and run around The Happiest Place on Earth this weekend, you will be hard pressed to find me not wearing that same look on my face.

You were my first love. And you are my only brother. I love you.

Your Gemini.