It is crucial to invest in those who have helped you shape into the person you are now. Spend time, because that is the only currency that will suffice for your friendship. With that being said, today I want to celebrate an extraordinary person to me. Happy birthday to my best friend from college, I love you and get ready to feel sappy.

I hated myself for letting us get distant in your last year at DePaul. Especially when you have always been one of the best friends I have ever had in my entire life. So you bet your pet biscuit, that I was beyond honored spend a whole day a half with you, just like old times. I wanted to thank you, with every fiber in me for that time, where we got to celebrate Cruzmus early.

Thank you for texting me right away when you got back to town. Thank you for coming to meet me at House of Vans, for the #30DaysInChicago Red Bull Sound Select Series. (Thank you universe for allowing him to see the spot when I had told him back in March when House of Vans opened, that I would take him there.) Thank you for letting me get you inside so we could take a branded House of Vans photobooth picture. Thank you for treating my friends and I, at Soho House. Thank you for taking more photo-booth pictures with me that night. Thank you for buying both our waitress and me, tequila shots at Moneygun. Thank you for sleeping over on my couch on a week-night, just like you said you would.

Thank you for coming back over in the afternoon, and signing my legendary kitchen wall. Thank you for showing me what it’s like to play the latest Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch. Thank you for getting us massages at Massage Envy. That was my first professional massage, and it was awesome. Thank you for making us take the Brown Line to Belmont, instead of a Lyft. Thank you for allowing me to pick out part of your sister’s thank you gift. Which was Super Smash Bros for the N64, a $55 game, the most expensive N64 game in the store! But you told me it was more than that, it was a collector’s item. Thank you for protecting me against Stevie Wonder’s schizo cousin’s nasty ass feet. Thank you for taking me into Belmont Army, and trusting me to help you pick out a dope jacket. Made me realize I need to locate the men that shop there. Oh wait, I have, and that’s you. Knee slapper.

Thank you for allowing me to take you to dinner at Strings. Thank you for trying my VERY spicy ramen, because I knew you’d like it. Thank you for caring for my brother. Thank you for taking me to finally meet your sister. Thank you for letting us all play What Do You Meme. Thank you for sharing your hysterical secret stories with me. Thank you for helping me home after one too many Mezcal shots. You I know I only partook in taking shots on a week-night, was because of this rare occasion. Thank you for all the Ubers.

Words cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for you, in my life. Thank you for always showing me with your respect and actions, the way I should always be treated. Thank you for still keeping your word, and staying true to yourself. Thank you for always grounding me, and putting me in my place. Thank you for making me feel like you never left.

You know, who even needs a boyfriend when you have a best friend like Joe Cruz.

Happy birthday I love you!!!! Do some push-ups for me, I’ll drink a beer for you. 🙃