(no subject)

[drewbear]

First of all, thank you to everyone wishing me a Happy Birthday. ::BLUSH::

Also, I'm insanely busy with work and moving, so don't expect me to be online for another week or so. Everyone take care of themselves!

Comments

[th0rbear.livejournal.com]

have a happy birfday and party once everything is all moved and such :)

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Parties have never worked out well for me, but we'll see. Thanks for the wishes. :-)

Re: i suck

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

not belated. today (26th) is my bday, so you're in plenty of time. thanks for the wishes. :-)

[lysariala.livejournal.com]

yay for you! happy birthday :)

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Thanks, dear sister. ::hugs::

[saintyoohoo.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday, Drew.

I'm going to ask a really stupid question, so if it is, I can you can say it's a birthday present, laugh at my stupidity....

Anyway, here goes...

Have you ever lived in Virginia Beach?

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Not as an adult; my family lived there about 16-17 years ago when my dad was stationed at Norfolk.

[saintyoohoo.livejournal.com]

Ms. Andretti... or was it Ms. Angelo's? I can't recall her name... 7th/8th Grade Art Class... 7th Bell...

I'd like to talk with you sometime. I know you're moving and busy, when you get a chance though... I'd really like to talk. I'm m3jpnv on aim.

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Please, like I remember teachers' names from that long ago. I barely remember which SCHOOL I went to. :-P

Speaking of which, which school was this?

[saintyoohoo.livejournal.com]

I went on a dig and uncovered my yearbook.

Kempsville Jr. High School. 1990-91 Our art teacher's name was Ms. Andelton. You and I sat at the same table with two other girls, Grace Cho and Jennifer Cassidy (Wouldn't have remembered their names without the yearbook). You were in Ms. Puckett's Gifted class. My memory of Ms. Puckett has her a bit on the snobby side.

There was a carnival that Ms. Puckett and your class organized for "Habitat for Humanity". I helped at that function to. My best friend and I were in one of the game rooms... I think we were playing the shell game. At one point, your dad came in with a video camera and said that I looked just like his son. I asked if it was you, Drew. He said it was. I could tell he was your dad, you looked alike.

Everyone used to think we were brothers. I would find this amusing, because if we were brothers, why were we both named Andrew. Some sick and twisted parents to name their kids the same name. But maybe that's why I went by Andrew, and you went by Drew. So I guess there could be some mad logic to it.

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, I remember you too. Well, as well as I remember anything from back then. I remember my dad telling me that he saw you, but for some reason, it never clicked that you were the same guy in Art with me.

If I recall correctly, I was a very strange little kid, so my (very) belated apologies for anything I may've done that weirded you out. And you know, no one ever told me that they thought we were brothers, but that may've been due to the aforementioned strangeness.

How weird is it that we both ended up gay and in the bear community, though? I remember Ron & Luke talking about you and Barre after Bear Hunt last year, too. We;ve been circling each other for quite some time, apparently. I assume you found my LJ through Ron's b-day post, but how'd you connect now-me to then-me?

[saintyoohoo.livejournal.com]

The thing is, you have nothing to apologize for. It is I that must apologize to you. I'm not sure if you remember our interactions, but I clearly do. It has haunted me for 17 years.

I wasn't the friendliest of people back then. I also was going through personal "strangeness". My older brother had moved away to pursue a better future. My father was stationed in Naples, Italy. I was forced to help in raising my little sister and baby brother. Add puberty to the mix, a dash of identity crisis and a large heaping spoon of sexual confusion...

Here I am, making excuses.

I was mean to you, Drew. I wasn't very friendly toward you. I think a large part of that is that I saw a lot of myself in you, and most of my childhood was spent hating myself. I didn't pick on you in the hallways, it was just in that 7th bell art class... I was a coward... and there hasn't been a day since then that I haven't thought about how I mistreated you. There hasn't been a day that I have not wished that I could have taken the mistreatment back.

I am the one who is sorry, Drew.

How we got to this point... is something that has completely blown my mind. Something that I'm going to post about, because our reunion is nothing short of miraculous. What is even spookier, is that I just posted about the guilt I have for the way I treated you, back on April 19th! A Full week before I discovered that you have been right next door all along! I have been able to trace how I've gotten to this point way back to at least 1999...

[magebear.livejournal.com]

belated B-day happiness wishes!

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

you're in plenty of time; today (26th) is my birthday. I was just "replying" to the people who'd already posted bday wishes.

Thanks for the wishes. :-)

Happy Birthday

[perkk.livejournal.com]

Wishing you the best, even if you're busy!

Re: Happy Birthday

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Busy looks like it's going ot keep up until next Thursday, at a minimum, but busy is also $$$ and a new apartment, so no serious complaints, you know?

[(Anonymous)]

I love you, brother. Have a great birthday!
~Katie

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Love you too, Kit! ::hugs::

Feliz Cumpleaños Drew!!!

[fernando96.livejournal.com]

Hola Drew:
left you a message on your phone, big hug and kisses.

Kevin and Fernando

Re: Feliz Cumpleaños Drew!!!

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Muchas gracias, mis amigos. ::hug::

I got your message and it really cheered me up. Sorry I couldn't call you back; I was at work 14 hours yesterday and it's likely to be similar today.