21.

(If you can't stomach sentimentality, you might want to just skip this one.)

So... as of today, I have completed the first 21 years of my life, and I was hoping I could take a moment to thank all of the people who have been a part of them.

- my friends from Findlay
- my classmates at St. Al's
- all of the teammates and coaches from baseball, basketball, and football
- all the Titans I've known
- my teachers at St. John's
- the girls I knew while in high school
- my friends on the bluff
- my heroes in Sursum Corda
- my aunts and uncles and cousins
- my two favorite people in the world: Granny and Pawpaw
- and of course, my father, my mother, and Greg and Kevin
- everyone else who doesn't fit into a broad category of people I've known yet has had an impact on my life (e.g. Barbara, Marcy Kaptur's staff, Kirsten, LPI, etc.)

If it was all over today, I would be satisfied, and in fact, would consider myself overwhelmingly lucky to have experienced the love and companionship of such an interesting and wonderful group of people.

I listen to the wind,
To the wind of my soul.
Where I'll end up, well I think
Only God really knows.
I've sat upon the setting sun
But never, never never never
I never wanted water once
No, never, never, never.

I listen to my words but
They fall far below.
I let my music take me where
My heart wants to go.
I swam upon the devil's lake
But never, never never never
I'll never make the same mistake
No, never, never, never.

- Cat Stevens "The Wind"


The cake my host mother here in Germany Kirsten baked for me



In case I never thanked you, I want you to know it meant the world to me.
RM 1987-2005