To the inspiration of 9001 words

In all honesty, there really isn't much of a need for me to write on this page. I've been extremely open with you, and there may not be that much left for me to say.

But there are some things. The things that I, no matter how close I am to the person, simply do not have the emotional transparency to say in person. You already know that yes, I consider you my best friend, and in many ways, my only friend. What do I have to say is that, though we both say that yeah, we probably could have found another person to fill the other's place, it doesn't change the fact that, given how all the stars and dots aligned, you were that person for this young man, for this high school, for this time period.

Maybe you joined me on the other side a few years later, but even then, more than my sister and my mother, you've been the most influential in shaping my personality. I guess your peers really do mean even more in terms of maturation than the family you spend all your time with at home.

I feel that we both still have the most dramatic years of change ahead of us, however. Though at the moment, I genuinely feel like I wouldn't have become the Ryan Chow I am today if you hadn't agreed to do 7th grade drama with me, chances are that in the next four years, you're going to build an even stronger bond with your new best friend. And so will I. But there's no sense devaluing the friendship that we've built over the most critical part of our lives so far; though something else is inevitably on the horizon, I'm glad we've come full circle to learn to appreciate the present because of its temporality and fragility.

We've got our feet in the door already, man. We've both worked our fucking asses off to blow past all the bouncers, the assholes, and the thousands of other hard working Asian males to earn our spot in the house. But that's not going to be the end of our journey. We're going to climb up the ten million flights of stairs in that house, and we're going to rise to something greater. By the time we reach the top, the sun will have already set and the stars will have already come out. But shit man, those stars are going to be beautiful.

Thank you for the most empowering and influential friendship I've ever had,
Ryan Chow