Years are a measure of temporal expanse. Happy 25 my friend.
But years do not convey the true story. You are beyond all temporal description.
You are an old wise soul, bhodisatva if you will.
Few do I look towards for an example of righteousness, you my friend are one.
An exemplar for proper being.
I am honored and excited to be your friend.

in metta,
awno

You sometimes meet people, who absolutely inspire you. Who inspire you to live up to yourself and who you already are. (does this make sense??)

NEway -- I can only count myself lucky to know people like this -- the newest blessings being in the forms of Bouncy & Shogi, and the entity that is their gorgeous relation dance.

I suppose I might be envious if they both weren't so God blessed AWESOME.

Yup. Instead, I feel real fortunate :)

What to Believe

19 years of foggy unresolved questioning with
answers coming into focus as loneliness is lessening
Should I believe in your love or act a skeptic of it all?
Do I brace myself on your shoulder or do I allow myself to fall?

A beautiful distraction caught in my web of dreams,
Holding your hand, everything is exactly as it seems,
Realities diverge even before we are conceived,
But you’ve supplied the right reality for my curiosity to be relieved.

I’d been in limbo for years, then you lead me through the portal
It’s divine; our bodies intertwine, as though we are immortal
And a past doesn’t dictate a future because neither exist
All that there is, is this moment of infinite climactic bliss;
Your scent strung along me as you trace my body like a pencil
and erase residual mistakes left from any other lover’s utensil.

Then you penetrate my mind and blindfully resign
your selfless, one of a kind, gracefully timed mind to mine.
You stand still upon this pedestal that keeps growing higher
each time you remove my mind from the role of the denier
and share truths with tact even if they’re not universal,
Reservations of love had only been a dress rehearsal
equipped with the anticipation of performance; it's been long awaited,
but when your eyes grabbed a hold of mine, I became inundated
Now I linger in your gaze and before I go back on stage
You must let me glance away to turn the page
For this script is unfamiliar and I’m determined to please
But my curiosity swarms about you like the birds and the bees

I don’t doubt that the moment will one day arise
When your eyes dismiss mine and send me back into the sea of lies
But I’ll use the power you gave me to navigate through
Cuz I’m sure now, the only truth I need to believe in is,
I love you…

~Ilanamous~

I've been thinking about you a lot recently, and I just went and checked your tribe page and realized I wrote you that testimonial over six months ago, and while I hold by my description of you, there's so much more to add now (that and I think Lily and I will officially be the founders of the Shoghi fan club. I don't think we'll have a hard time recruiting though).

Whenever I think about you I just feel so grateful; I can't describe the strength your faith in me gives me. Sometimes when I'm alone, and I'm feeling down, I think about you and I feel better (and I say that without an ounce of over embellishment). Just remembering the way you look at me, and having the knowledge that someone who I admire and adore so much thinks so much of me as well makes me feel beautiful. You are one of my greatest comforts in this world, and at the same time one of my greatest passions. You fill me with lust and inspiration. I can hardly contain myself when I'm around you, because you drip with sensuality and vitality.

And yet despite these things I don't long for you the way I've longed for other lovers. I miss you constantly, but it's never painful. My yearning for you is always warm and satisfying. It brings a smile to my face and constantly gives me something to look forward to.

You are a unique soul Shoghi, my love, and you have come such a long way from when we first met. There was always something special about you. A twinkle in your eye that was apparent to everyone, even when you were letting it dim down.

Now, your ability to be wholly yourself while still being able to comfort and be there for others astounds and amazes me. You have this fantastic ability to be loud and rowdy, while still seeming to move through life with the utmost of grace (except of course when your an e-tarded, Shogimp, who's running around shirt cocking. Which, I have to add in here because the moments where I see your grace slip away from you are so rare, that I treasure them just as much :-P).

All in all, I always come back to the beginning: the place where I am so grateful that when I was sitting in that little shack, that the cute boy over in the corner saw a twinkle in my eye as well.

I concur.