Intellectually originated in 'Daredevil's Hamlet,' but I can relate to it and want to relay it
- playing at the Neo-Futurariam this weekend.

When we were little boys, my friends and I played 'War'- not the card game, but the childhood reincarnation of what we thought war was like to our six and seven year old heads; we were just trying to make sense of it all. 

Across the yards of our neighborhood we would set up our own trenches and advance on foreign territory, some of it we had actually never seen before, sneaking around corners and pretending the enemy was continually coming. The open field was where we would scream and dart from each end whilst avoiding cannon blasts and those zipping-by bullets.

This was an imagined world of war, and we were never completely out of casualties because we suffered them daily, whether that be actual physical marks (on knees or arms) or the ones we just made up- so at times one of us would get "hit" by the enemy.

This game as it was still applies to my life today; however, in a different sense than before. 

I want to be the first one hit during the battle because those are always the ones people go back for. "No! We can't leave Eric! No man gets left behind!" As they would rush back towards me, using my body as a tactile defense position encircling me, protecting me from more oncoming fire.

I'd get slung over a shoulder or dragged to a safer place where we could have a chance to be men instead of warriors again. Someone close would lift my head, put it on their lap, and comfort me in my declining moments: "We're going to get you out of this." To be supported: "You are going to make it." And to be needed: "Don't you dare quit on me now." 

Those people who go back for you, lift you up, carry you to safety, and more are what I'd refer to as "best friends." There will still be people who are off somewhere in the distance waging countless other battles but there's that person who sticks to you, not for the sake of the roles they play in the game but because they actually care.

With as many things that I'm doing at DePaul, it's not easy to have consistent relationships with people. I recognize how truly lucky I am then to have those people in my life to be there for me when I get "hit" by life's intangibles. 

Thank you for what you have done for me so far and in advance for what may come in the future. 
Thank you for allowing me into your lives and giving part of your time away.
Thank you for listening to what I mean to say, not always what I do say, haha.
Thank you for sharing personal experiences with me- we have inside jokes now!
Thank you for asking me critical questions about myself.
Thank you for being yourselves with me.

The list far exceeds this one; I hope I got the idea across and that we'll continue to "build" that relationship in ways that works on an individual level (do you know what I mean?).