“To find him…” (Part 10)

A merged post both continuing on down the “thank you” street I started walking in my original “To find him” post from 3 years back, while mixing in a tribute to my internationally known and loved, best-friend… <sidenote>That’s a binary number in the title; I’m just saying… </sidenote>

As with the first post, this one will by no means even attempt to encapsulate the vastness of this specific thank you…

Where do I even start? Correction. Where do WE even start? Well, let’s start perhaps, where it all started… In Mississippi. Where my best friend was born and raised in a home with several siblings. In that same place is where my best friend learned the meaning of family, unity, support and the importance of dreaming. In a home where the languages of both love and compassion were at the forefront of everything. Then at a breath-taking young age, my best friend traveled, alone, to New York in search of a sense of “finding oneself” along with the mindset to “make a name” in this world. Both of these items were fulfilled way past the point of anyone’s expectation. Learning both English and Spanish proved to be challenging at first but after some time, understanding of both languages came naturally…

So, where did we actually get to be called WE? Well, in Westchester, New York. I knew as soon as we exchanged not only our glances, but oddly similar facial expressions and gestures, that this interaction was going to change (at least) my life in a profound way. Though I’ll admit, for that I did see in that first glance from 6 feet away, I couldn’t foresee the full depth in which I would be changed. “We” met in July of 2007, which was just shy of my first CCNA “re-up” period; and “We” worked tirelessly together throughout not only that specific Cert renewal, but the following decade and a half (plus) to achieve CCNAs, CCNPs and CCIEs. Oh, and let’s not forget the CCDE reading, white boarding sessions and impromptu labbing that was had. I vividly remember the warm hellos received after traveling for weeks on end over 2 years with “The Ghost” to gain experience throughout the US and Canada, as well as the “stares of death” sent my way from working overnight in the Data Centers with “War Machine” to wrap up unrealistic project timelines… Let’s also not forget when I came back from RTP, NC on my 2nd R&S IE attempt and getting told, in not so many syllables, “well, it’s ABOUT TIME you passed…” Also when I got back from Richardson, TX (again attempt #2) the same “comforting notion” of “did you even bring me anything, thank goodness you finished Security” was shouted in my direction, quite concisely. After the 2nd CCDE attempt, it was “are you aware of the outside temperature…” coupled with “we don’t have a permit, why do you want to get arrested for taking pictures this early?” Oh and I am no stranger to the infamous eye roll, or the attempt to melt me with a stare of discontent.

As years passed, we spent more and more time together learning, exercising, cooking, traveling (both domestically and internationally), reading, labbing (sometimes all night), screaming at each other, debugging, fighting, watching church, making fun of each other, yard work, diagramming, both building and immersing ourselves in multi-hour playlists of music, scripting tasks that annoyed us, watching Real Madrid win (mostly) or other soccer matches, visiting the bank, shopping, diving in for weekends-on-end to enjoy great tv or movies together, taking care of each other, just passing time together or simply walking for miles to discover new places, gather our unique yet similar perspectives or solve complex issues. <sidenote>The amount of engineering and/or architectural problem solving that has been had on 10-80 minute walks cannot even be quantified… </sidenote>

As I sit here with a slightly warm breeze hitting my back, on another new continent, listening to “Journey to the Stars” by Tim van Werd & Rik Mol, my mind begins to wander and then a flood of warm and happy memories rush into both my heart and soul as I think of my best friend. I smile, because of all we have done together as well as what we shared. Not to mention everything that we ended up learning from each other. After 16 years, 8 months and just under 20 days of being best friends, I dropped to my knees one last time, comforted her like all good “Papás” do, wiped the tears from her face (boy, was she tired), kissed her ever-soft head, then placed my hand on her chest and said “I love you my Bud… Nunca olvides eso” as she crossed the rainbow bridge…

I am truly blessed and thankful that we were able to share such pivotal points of both of our lives, spanning multiple decades, and also that we were able to share not only what life threw at us, but also what God blessed us both with. I am also humbly reminded that both she met and also helped me meet, so many special people (most of which are now family) along “nuestro camino de vidas juntos.” I hope to reunite with her again, one day, when I myself Journey to the Stars…

<epilogue>Thank you, “War Machine” for all of your support throughout this emotionally draining process, for the photo-shoot and for continuing to pickup when I call. </epilogue>