Whimsical Romantics: the 5 Most Important Moments in My Life

It's starting to hit me.

In one week, I'll be walking across the stage dressed in a cap and gown, with my degree in hand. My family will congratulate me with smiles on their faces, proud that despite everything life threw at me, I did it. I got through the ups and downs, like we all do.

As the reality settles in, I am beginning to realize that graduating from University will be the fifth most important moment in my life, thus far. Yes, the fifth. Allow me to walk you through this.

The First: August 29, 1992. Thank God I don't remember this day, that would be devastating. Luckily for my Mom, I don't have any pictures from the day I was born. Instead, I have this candid moment with my best friend at the time, Buddy. A real original name for a first pet, I know.

Buddy was a mutt, or at least that's what Mom always used to call him. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, but that didn't matter to me.

He was a master escape artist. A real Houdini of his time! Nothing could keep this pup in the yard, not even the fence. He howled at almost anything high pitched, whether it be Dad's whistles, or the piano.

He was bigger than me here, but before we knew it I had outgrown him by a lot. He loved me anyways, unconditionally.

The Second: from tween to teen. Oh the days of being carefree, jealous and dramatic all in the same day.

High school was tough. Whoever said that these days are the best of your life, must've been the popular kid with good grades and even better looks.

I made some really special friends though. There's something amazing about growing up in a small town that you can't get any where else. You have to invent your own fun and choose your own adventure. I had some good friends, indeed.

We traveled the world together, laughed often, and when tragedy was upon us we cried on each others shoulders. I'll value our crazy, complex, dysfunctional friendships for the rest of my life.

The Third: adolescence. Cooking every meal, doing my own laundry and living with roommates for the first time made for an interesting adjustment period. Too often, my land lord decided to make surprise visits, conveniently right after we held our house parties. And parties were held, often.

Costume parties, spontaneous parties, birthday parties. You name it, we had them.

We decorated the house every chance we got, because it was ours and we could. If we wanted to put up gaudy decorations, we did. If we wanted to play beer pong in the hallway, we did. If we wanted to turn the living room into a Christmas extravaganza, we did.

My memories in West Park have made for some of the best stories. I wouldn't trade them for a thing.

The Fourth: finding love. Everything changed at this point.

I went from a man hating fembot to a hopeful romantic, when this guy with bleach blonde hockey hair showed up on my doorstep. He had fear in his eyes when I reached out to hug him for the first time. It's not like I bit...often.

I liked him and he liked me. Fast forward a few years and the only thing that has changed is Jeff's hair, thankfully. That and the fact that my life isn't just mine any more.

So here we are. The fifth biggest moment of my life coming up in one short week. Marking the end of one stage and beginning of another.

I experienced joy and heartbreak, love and loss, alcohol and sobriety and of course learned a thing or two along the way. I'll always remember and cherish the last four years of my life, as I add them to the archives.