Day Thirty: Little Miss Missing My Friend

When I saw that today's assignment in the "30-Day Challenge" is to post a picture of someone I'm missing, I was tempted to just rehash my blog from February 21st since it pretty much covered the gals I love and miss.  But that would be cheating, right?  And what kind of blogger would I be if I cheated my gentle readers on this LAST DAY of the Challenge?  (Actually, there's a Day 31 where I'm supposed to post another picture of me, but I refuse to do it since this is the "30-DAY Challenge" and not the "31-DAY Challenge."  Plus I'm ready to move on to something new.)

My challenge now becomes not only who I spotlight on today's challenge, but finding away to wrap up this whole 30-day blog-a-thon.  Do I try to write something super meaningful?  Should I be cheeky or clever?  I thought about posting a picture of Amelia when she was teeny tiny and saying I miss her being so small. I know it's only been seven months, but she's HUGE now and getting more independent every day.  I decided against this idea, though, since I already write about her so much.  It's not that she's not important; I just don't intend for this to become a "mommy blog." 

I pulled out my cell phone and started flipping through my contacts, looking for inspiration.  I had only made it to the "B's" when I realized I knew who the focus of today's blog should be. Though I was only a few letters from his name, I didn't need to even make it the D's.  I miss Dave.

Though I predominantly have girl friends now, for much of my life I've always preferred to hang out with guys. When I got married, my relationships with my guy friends changed and some disappeared completely. It's not that I didn't want to hang out with them anymore or felt that they threatened my marriage. I just felt that out of respect for my husband, I probably shouldn't run around with a bunch of guys anymore. I started trying to develop more friendships with women and formed several that have turned into lifelong bonds. It wasn't until I started hanging out with Dave that I realized how much I missed having a male friend. And the added bonus was that he was John's friend, so we could all hang out and I didn't feel I was doing anything "wrong."

I met Dave in 2005 when we moved to St. Louis; he was John's residency coordinator/mentor.  Though we spent a little less than a year in the same city as Dave, I count him as one of my dearest friends and wish we lived closer and could hang out all the time (though I'm not sure there's enough wine and drunken goat cheese this side of the Mississippi to satisfy us).  There are few people in my life with whom laugh as much as him,  and if you've known me for very long at all, you know how important laughter is to me.  But for all of our craziness together, Dave is serious when it counts.  He's one of the most encouraging people I've ever known and he's always had my back.  I think the absolute world of him.

What makes Dave even more perfect for this particular blog is that he has supported BWC pretty much since Day 1.  In fact, he's been around since way back in 2005 when I was blogging on Myspace as "A Girl Named Bob."  When I left Myspace in 2008, he was my last comment ("I'm verklempt") and he was one of my very first comments in July 2008 when I started "Bad with Conviction."  Along the way, he's not only been a dedicated reader and commenter, he's also shared my blog with others.  His support and feedback mean the world to me, so much that even if no one else read except him, I'd still keep writing.

Thank you for everything, Dave.  I miss you, buddy. 

This blog's for you.  

Now come see my baby, dammit.