Nothing is forever. My brotha is moving. It was in the works for a while, that he would be offered a lateral move but with a raise. The catch was that he would have to relocate to Austin, Texas and become a team lead to the new crew that was just assembled down there. It was a great opportunity. He would work closely with the VP who was based in Austin and it would earn him accolades from his company. The raise was crap though, meager compared to the job at hand. At first, he had said he wouldn't do it for under a certain number, and when they counter-offered him last weekend with the current bid, I didn't think he would take it. But I guess nothing stays the same forever. The bid didn't change, but Shins mind did.
When we were first introduced, it was not an amicable encounter. We'd went to different high schools, but in the same district and back in the 90's there was only 3. We were rival high schools (How Riverdale-ish eh?) and the first time we'd met we were in opposing gangs, set for a fight. How 14 years later, he's one of my best friends, my brother and roomate...there's a story to tell. There's a thousand stories to tell. Like all friendships, like all the people that you have around you, those that you care for and care for you. Your brother, your sister, mother, father. Your cousins, your best friends. There's a thousand stories to tell for each of them, how you went camping every year. How you go for drinks after work. How you used to just cruise the streets. How you party on the weekends, and chill on the weekdays. There's a thousand stories within the stories too, as I'm sure there are for each of you. How does it end? It ends with the disappearance. They're no longer here. Shin is leaving. The stories will end there.
I'm at a loss of thought. I'm pulled in two directions. I'm happy for him that he's moving on up. He's an ambitious guy and said to me "I'm not happy with where I'm at in my personal life and it's a big factor in me changing my mind." He's going to be a millionaire one day or die trying. I see that. This move will set him up nicely in the long run, but it means moving to Texas. He'll have to fight the dragon if he's going to get to the princess one day. On the other hand, I'm losing a brother. I respect Shin the most of all my friends. He's always calm and never seems to be upset over anything. He's also always had my back. When shit goes down, I can always count on Shin to be right behind me without even looking for him, that's the kind of friend he is. And now I'm one down. It's a selfish reason, but I don't think anybody could not help but feel the way I do. My lifestyle as I know it is about to change, again. It's only been 3 months since my last 8.0 richter scale lifestyle change* and my buddy moving equates to about an 8.4. I'd just recently stopped feeling the aftershocks from the first quake and now it's like a Hiroshima style disruption.
He leaves June 1st. There are still 2+ months left to party it up, 2+ months left to make some crazy new stories. It's funny, how life can change so quickly from one comfortable moment to the next, a not so familiar territory. I have to admit, I took the last 5 years for granted. The last 5 years held some of the best times in my life and as it was passing me by, I just let it slip away without thought, without ever thinking that one day it would end. 2+ months.
*My girlfriend of 5 years and I called it a day. We seperated and she got custody of our dog.
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