Remembering remembrance...

To: Larry White

'The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.'
-Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

Just nine days before my departure I have sat down to contemplate what a year this has been.
I have made plenty of enemies, haha, willing or not.
There has been so much drama, I could write a novel with all of it.
There has been sad moments...

But none of these are worthy to remember. These are placed down on a dark and musty chest, which is closed and sent to the bottom of the sea, its key left to rust on the seashore.

Now friendship, on the other hand, will mark us forever. In doing so, friendship makes each one of us a better person.

Think for just ten seconds of whose name comes to your mind when you hear the word 'friend'.
Now, think again whose name comes to mind when I say 'true friend'.
A true friend is a person we love, even if we love to hate them at times. That person who does not have to say much to mean much, and whose mere gaze strengthens us. What best to arrive at that friend's house and feel you're at home, and welcome.
And how great the feeling that your particular friend has your favorite dish prepared for you.
You know why? Because you are loved.
Let them know how much they mean to you, and how much you love them. You never know, they may need to hear it right at this moment.

Think now, would your name come to people's minds when they think of the word 'friend'? How about 'true friend'? If not, then you're doing something wrong...

Thank you, my dear friend Larry. If someone ever asked me what a true friend is I would just have to introduce them to you.

Lesson learned: The ornaments of my life are the friends I keep.

One year…

"True friendship, unlike love, always lasts forever."

-Anonymous

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

-Anonymous

Time seems to pass by so slowly when you’re suffering…
Yet it does so fast when we’re enjoying life!

This last year has been a year of much introspection, of getting to know myself better, and to see things differently. It’s been a year of becoming stronger after healing wounds that have been inflicted by others, and by me.

After careful evaluation of the events that have transpired I can surely say I have been a traveler, a journeyman who has traversed from the deep valleys of love, to the uncertain waters of betrayal. I’ve crossed the jungles of despair, the deserts of solitude and have lost myself in the dense woods of uncertainty. I have survived a relationship conceived in hell, almost sunk myself in the swamps of emotional blunting.
In the end, and thanks to you my friends, I have been rescued and brought to walk again along the plains of eternal and unconditional friendship.

Thank you all for being there for me,

Thank you Marielys, for filling my life with laughter…
Gladys, for honesty like I’ve never seen before…
Jaime, for trying to understand me…
Ivonne, for always saying ‘yes’…
Ada, for humbly being the victim of my jokes…
Limaries, for all the memories…
Toby(my dog), for love unconditional…
‘Carlos(Javier, Johan and Eric)’, for joining the ride of my life…
Luis Daniel, for being the sweetest guy alive…
Pablillo, for putting up with my failures…
Danny, for all the help…
Nietzsche, for keeping me on my toes…
Idamis, for watching my back when I went blind…
Eva, for reminding me that miracles happen when you believe…
Humberto, for seeing the best of me…
Alkelis, for friendship that transcends time and distance…
Brian(Athos), for being more than a brother…
Jorge(Aramis), your faith gives me strength…
Frankie(D’Artanian), for music that moves my heart…
Whitten, for being the perfect nemesis…
Justin, for being fair and just…
Roberto Victor, for being the best of friends…
Armando, for all the joy…
Cynthia, for being my stalwart defender…
Jometh, for a song that touched me…
Laudy(Junito), for inspiring so much in me…
Miguel, for being honest when I needed it…
Angel & Emil, for all the good times…
Rafa, for being a true friend…
Danilo, for accepting me as I am…
Amarilis, for being as crazy as you are…

Thank you all for responding to my summons. And thanks for making my life one worthy of writing a book, one in which each one of you would deserve a chapter.

You have helped me throughout my life, and you have helped me be who I am today.

I am The Wolf,
the Puppet Master,
the Game Freak,
but, most importantly, I am...
…Your Friend

Lesson learned: "If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't jump with them, I'd be at the bottom to catch them"

Perfect harmony...

My eyes have seen the glory
Of a pure song unsung
The one produced by a singer
And the musician’s heart in love

A voice so clear it shakes your soul
It sings inside and echoes
It draws a smile and soothes you
With all its charm it beckons

The air you filled with perfect blend
Vibrating strings and fragrance
The songs you played will never end
Inside my heart’s ambiance

Departing seemed a cursing
Threatening that one song’s spell
But I see it just a blessing
We will survive and it’ll all be well

For…

My eyes have seen the glory
Of a pure song unsung
The one produced by a singer
And the musician’s heart in love

My Valentine…

‘There is no greater feeling than feeling loved’
-The Puppet Master

What are you going to do for St Valentine’s?

Will you have dinner with your partner? Are you sending flowers to someone that has been ‘rocking your world’? Have you thought about chocolates to him/her? Staying at a hotel? Are you traveling to meet somebody?

Now, what have you planned to do just for yourself on St Valentine’s?
GOTCHA!

You probably haven’t thought of anything because once again you’re waiting for someone to love you and show it instead of loving yourself first.
Get a postcard and write what you honestly think you deserve to hear about yourself. Write about those good things in you that attract other people. Seal that envelope and wait for St Valentine’s to open it. You surely will have forgotten exactly what you wrote, for you wrote it exactly when you wanted to make yourself feel loved and, sadly, we don’t feel loved all the time. Accompany it with your favorite flower, with your favorite chocolate and ask yourself ‘Would I be my Valentine’?

Only then you will truly appreciate what others do for you on that very special day, for you have already given yourself a 'pat in the back’.

With that said, I have to say something to those of you who are my friends.

'I have made it here with all your help, in one way or another. To those of you who have smiled at me. To those who have lent a helping hand, to all those who lend their ears to me...to all those who cry with me. To all those who have seen me through the worst year of my life, living with the devil himself and making it safe, ready for a new year unfolding its blessings like a flower of myriad colors...

To all of you, will you be my Valentine?'

Thanks for all the love

-The Puppet Master

Lesson learned: There is no greater feeling than feeling loved…and loved by yourself…just as you are.