Month of Appreciation Day One
A year is a strange amount of time. Fleeting in terms of one’s lifespan, minuscule in terms of history, but just about long enough to feel like a lifetime. In the space of a year every aspect of regular life can be subject to change, occupation, location, mental state, physical health, hobbies, social situation, or friends, but after a year of stability in any one regard that aspect of life seems infinite, it’s difficult to imagine life without it. For instance, having recently finished a degree is obscure, I cannot really truly imagine or remember my life before, how I spent my time, spare or college/work time. Being friends with Abdu Dihan is kind of like that. About 14 months ago I walked into “the Roath Park” pub and stumbled (nonliteral, they actually arrived after me) into a group of friends who would very quickly become my own, and after sharing a fifteen minute long competitive handshake with Abdu, I pretty quickly decided that this silly, loud, immature pile of lovable arab charm could be someone I very much come to like. Sometimes, just rarely, I really like being right.
Throughout the space of a year, this idiot and I developed what could be described as something between a brotherhood and a marriage (current girlfriend understands that she cant hope to compete) - countless times we’d accidentally (and I mean that) be up until six in the morning, either sat on a sofa, stood outside in the cold whilst more functional people were waking up and going to work, or sat on a mattress in a kitchen, talking about an endless spiraling combination of impossible worlds, exciting ideas or, every now and then, how absolutely, decidedly, irreducibly, perfectly adequately ok we each were at the time. Didnt matter. Time flies.
Obviously we’re not quite the same, naturally he has the looks (sexy wink for you here Abdu) and I have ever so slightly more natural charisma, along with a slightly more pronounced tongue in cheek mock arrogance, but we both have that fun very actively cocky/boisterous outlook on exams and various other aspects of life, similar sense of humours, hobbies, interests, friends, and moral views (when we dispute, we both handle debate well, even if I am an ignorant white boy) and generally speaking he’s pretty much my right hand man, the lieutenant, second only to the Babest of Babes, and the Tiny Potato Thief.
As another friend recently pointed out. People are pretty much stuck with me on account of his determination to keep me around. I’m pretty much ok with that.
So day one of my appreciation month is yours Abdu, you big dumb lovely idiot. Here’s to a year of steadfast unwavering comradery, long may it reign.
