I’m still secretly hurt by you not choosing me to be one of the groom dudes at your wedding. Here are a few pictures though. Feel free to use them on your myspace.

Love,
Francis

I also wanted to give a toast, but due to my ridiculous hang-over that morning and my inability to concisely say sappy things in person (or in writing for that matter), I decided against it. I would still like to give one though, as belated as it may be, so here it goes:

I met Kyle and his lifetime hetero partner (Owen) about 10 years ago. We were in a ghetto neighborhood, building dirt-jumps around crumbled foundations. We’d jump them on our bikes and occasionally set them on fire. The fire department was not as enthusiastic about it as we were. We did that for about a summer, until school started. Roughly around that same time, the neighborhood kids started fucking up our jumps and it reached a point where people stopped congregating there to ride. My lack of social skills at the time didn’t really afford me much interaction outside of riding bikes (and BMX was a quickly fading past-time for them) so I didn’t see much of them for the next few years to follow. I always admired the friendship he and Owen shared though and secretly hoped to someday be a part of it.

Fast forward to Junior year of high school and Kyle’s sitting next to me in some computer class. We found ourselves getting bored frequently so we spent a good portion of the class goofing off. We did stuff like move our speakers around so they were a good distance away from us and people would think it’s theirs. Then, when it got quiet, we’d play audio clips of people farting and juvenile hilarity would ensue. That seemed like the year of practical jokes for Kyle. I remember on the last day of school, there was a garbage can in the middle of the hallway, filled to the brim with lecture notes, homework and other crap that kids accumulate in their lockers. From one end of the hall, Kyle would yell something along the lines of, “Hey guys, wait for me!” to a group of people walking away. He’d then start running down the hall and attempt to jump over the garbage can. Of course, his toe would catch, pummeling him into the ground and filling the air with a spectacular confetti of college-ruled notes and mayhem. He’d immediately get up, look around briefly with the most embarrassed look on his face and then run out the door. The nice kids wondered if he was ok and the cool kids laughed at him. Both crowds never suspecting that he did it on purpose. It takes a lot to be able to pull off such a feat and walk away laughing hysterically, with a perfectly unbruised ego in tact. He didn’t give a fuck when it came to comedy and that’s what made him so awesome.

Fast forward another few years and he’s living in my house. Some of the best (and worst) times of life happened during those years we shared a roof. I remember some parties ending with me drunkenly lecturing him about his drinking habits (he drank the most out of any of us) and realizing half-way through that we were still in a room full of people and that I was shit-faced as well. At which point, I’d feel like we were an old married couple fighting. And though I had stepped over the line with my nagging, he never held it against me the following morning. He was always bigger than that. We’d just laugh about it instead, recollecting all the other random shit that happened in the evening.

Kyle’s one of the funniest and most understanding best friends I’ve ever had and I’m glad he’s found somebody to spend the rest of his life with. Unlike a good percentage of my friends who have gotten married these past few years, I actually think this one’s going to last.

Oh yeah, I guess I should say something about Aubrey too. She’s pretty cool.