They're really saying, "I love you".

one of those completely spontaneous completely romantic kisses that seem to be only out of novels.

and the kicker? it was immediately after seeing borat.

sometimes out of the blue my little brother will ask me if i want to watch a movie with him, or ask if i want to go for a ride in his mustang, or if he's feeling nostolgic, ask me if i want to play donkey kong country on super nintendo.
sometimes he'll say "some of my friends are coming over. why dont you hang out on the deck with us."

i'm very shy and dont have very many close friends, and he's very out-going and has alot of friends.
it seems like he's always running out of the house to go play hockey with travis, or go get ice cream with craig, or go to a party at someone's house while i stay home or go to my next door neighbor's house.
sometimes i feel like i'm his little sister, even though i'm 2 years older than him.

we're close but he doesn't really show affection to anyone on a regular basis. i can remember 2 times he's hugged me in the past year... the morning before i had surgery and the day our grandfather died. alot of people think we're not close, beacuse i hug my friends all the time and my brother and i dont hug, but that's not the case.

it really means alot to me when he takes time out of his busy life to do something with me or includes me in his plans.

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Contrary to popular belief, I'm a very giving person. In fact, I'm generous to a fault. I'd do anything for family and those I consider close friends. For example, I gave my brother-in-law $1,000 to help him out while he was going through the police academy last year. He'd initially asked to borrow it, but I insisted he didn't have to pay me back. Another time, I lent a friend $800 for his rent so he wouldn't be evicted. It's not always extreme amounts of money. Sometimes I may take people out to dinner for the hell of it or buy them little presents. I'm not a very demonstrative person, so that's how I tend to express my love/affection.

ETA: I'm not rich. Far from it.

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Updated On: 6/23/07 at 02:41 AM

A friend of mine recently got accepted into his dream post-grad writing program. He was so excited, until he found out that his student loans wouldn't allow him to go to that school. He sent out a mass email to all of his closest friends to let us know what had happened and within 36 hours we all came together with enough money to pay for his first semester (giving him breathing room to figure out the second semester's tuition). It was mainly little donations of twenty to fifty dollars that helped him reach his goal.

It's totally cheesy, but it goes to show that what seems like something small to some means the world to someone else. It really was a big group of people showing how much they love this one person, and we all know that he would do the same for us, had the roles been reversed.

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:) Even just telling people about it makes me smile. It's definitely one of the coolest group efforts I've ever been a part of.

Have fun at Dionne Warwick, btw!

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This Christmas I gave my sister and brother-in-law a gift certificate for two Yankees tickets. As an avid Mets fan, it pained me to even go into the Yankees website, but I knew how much they'd appreciate seeing "their" team lose (I mean "play").

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toward the end of this past semester, I had a bit too much to drink. I had just finally let this great guy know that I liked him and it was really the first time I knew that he felt the same way. We walked back to my dorm room and on the way, I got a phone call with really upsetting news. I was so upset and dissoriented. He came into my room with me while I made a few phone calls, still pretty drunk. He rubbed my back and occasionally hugged me, and after taking care of some business, I told him I wanted to be alone. I was crying, but he kissed me goodbye and left.

The next morning I walked out of my room and down the hall and noticed that he was sleeping on the couch in the lounge accross from my room. I gently woke him up, laughing, thinking that he was so drunk he just crashed wherever. But he sat up and told me that he slept there to make sure I was okay.

It was the most amazing feeling in the world.

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Great stories, but having heard Warwick sing recently don't expect her to sound much like she does on those fabulous early recordings. She really is one who should just stop and go smoke another pack of cigarettes and let her recordings be the stuff we remember.

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Jenna2 - Your story was beautiful. Thank you for posting it. I plan to have an awful amount of fun that night!

SM2 - I'm sure you are a good friend and it a blessing that you were able to help others at a time when they really needed it. It will come back to you. Of that I am certain.

KelRel - Don't you just love people like that? It's a scary transition, and someone who's fairly recently completed that scary transition is reaching out to you in an effort to make your own scary transition a little bit easier. It's the very definition of kindness. I'm going through the "Adult Re-entry Program" at my local college and every step of the way has been terrifying. Thankfully, I have had other Non-traditional students encouraging me along the way and I've really come to appreciate how those "little moments" end up making big differences in the scope of things.

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Thanks, ww. I don't expect anything back. It's the joy of giving, as they say. For me, it's more rewarding to give than to receive. However, if ever I'm in a dire situation, I just hope that someone (not necessarily the person I've helped) is there to offer similar aid.

One other example: A few months back, I bought dinner for a homeless man. Initially, he'd asked for money for food, but I don't like to hand cash to a total stranger, so I offered to buy it for him instead. He chose Wendy's and that was that.

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Thank you, Sueleen.

GClef2, that's a beautiful story. I'm glad you were able to experience such a moment, and I hope you recognize what a good friend you have in him! Some of my most profound moments in life have come from moments just like the one you described. Learn to recognize true friends. Once you've learned to recognize them, learn to cherish them. They will be invaluable along your way.

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