So today is my last day of school. Ever. Well, at least for a while. Until I succumb to the pressures of academia and go to grad school. No, seriously - I'd love to wind up in a creative writing MFA program one of these days. There's a cool one in Seattle. Or maybe one of the writing/publishing programs at Oxford. But right now I know I need a break from school. And it starts in five days, with the conclusion of my last final.

That's an addendum to today's post topic, though. An important one, but an addendum nonetheless. The real topic is a piece of very important news: Twenty-two years ago today, around 4 p.m., a baby was born here in Abilene to a lady whose name we still don't know. He lived for seven months with a couple named Ken and Danna Cash, who have taken in literally dozens of babies over the years as foster parents. They named him Ian, because he was ninth in the line of their foster children, and they were using the alphabet to keep track. (They're on their third go-round through the alphabet now.) But in mid-December of that year, thanks to Christian Homes of Abilene, he went home to Garland with a couple named Gibson, and they named him Jeremiah.

Fast forward 18 years, to the fall of 2002 at ACU. He met a petite brunette girl on campus one afternoon (he doesn't remember that first meeting, but she does), and a week or two later he asked her for a ride to a Third Day concert. He thought she was pretty; she thought he was good-looking, but he had a girlfriend and she was on the way to a relationship with somebody else. They hung out at Freshman Follies, but didn't see each other much the rest of that semester.

In January, Sing Song rehearsals began. As it happened, this girl and guy both love to sing, so they joined 100 of their freshman classmates in being ice cream men. The girl fell into hanging out with the guy's group of friends, and that was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship - which has grown to include two more Sing Songs, a Spring Break Campaign trip to Boston, countless choir practices (and two retreats), visits to each other's houses, hours upon hours spent praising God together, innumerable phone calls, a few much-watched (and much-quoted) movies, and nights spent talking until the wee hours or doing absolutely nothing together.

Despite a semester in Oxford for the girl, two summers apart, a few personal crises and a deep crisis of faith (again for the girl), this relationship has come to mean more than either of them ever imagined. They can truly be themselves around each other, whether that means being goofy, being tender, growing sentimental, laughing out loud, or talking about the deep stuff - the things that matter. And yes, I know this post is sentimental - but I don't care.

I've been loved by lots of people in my life, most importantly my parents, my sister and my whole family. I have friends scattered across the globe who love me truly and whom I love. I've even been cared for by a few boys who occasionally brought me flowers and told me I was pretty. But I've never been loved in quite this way before. Here's to the steadfast, honest, worshipful, goofy, handsome, understanding man in my life. Happy birthday, Jeremiah. I love you.