10 Months
He walked in with that fuckin hair. Always with the hair, this kid. Mr. Paul Zuk of Baltimore County fame walked into my local watering hole last night and grabbed my drink before I even noticed who it was. I looked up and saw this snickering awkward look that was met by a deep head nod, a chuckle and eventually one of the best hugs I have given or received in a very long time.
"Well tell us about him."
"Jeez - that's not that easy."
You want to hear about tumultuous beginnings and false starts then I could tell you the story of Paul up to when I saw him last. He tells me that now things are much different, smoother, better balanced and secure. He lets me know that his son is growing fast and that he loves his wife. He has a new job that he enjoys more and now finds solace and peace in the fact that he no longer drinks hard liquor or smokes.
But, if I were really going to define him to everyone, I wouldn't really know where to start. You want a definition of a sporadic enigmatic you need to look no further than the Napoleonic figure that used to never be more than 5 feet away from me on any given Sunday afternoon or Saturday night. He's not perfect by any means, but his imperfections make him humble and his humility in the shadows of the bravado that he wears on his shirt like a badge is rarely shown. But, if you are lucky enough to see the respect and love he has for his friends you will understand how the words loyalty and trust come together to make a perfect harmonic sound.
The stories I have with this kid are only matched by the stories that he has with his other friends. I love stories and I hold them in very high regard when it comes to appreciating and defining your life. I believe that a man with good stories is a good man indeed. He has so many stories with so many people because we all trust him and he goes down any path you do simply because he's not afraid and he loves you.
It did my heart wonders to see one of my best friends last night. It made me very happy to watch that asshole walk into my bar and tell me how great his life was. Hopefully it'll be more like 10 days rather than 10 months the next time I see him.
