If I re-wrote my first entry…

Oh, OD, when will we stop playing these games and live in harmony? I know I’ve left you many times, even had a farewell entry once thinking I would forever quit you! But I didn’t, I came back. And I tried to act like everything’s normal even though in reality it was just not the same. But now you’ve left me the farewell announcement, and you sound like it’s permanent… We’ll finally break this cycle…

Anyways, sarcasm aside. It is sad to think I’ll never be able to go back here and re-visit myself and each version of my favs. Yep we all grew up on here so we each have different versions of ourselves presented in typed word! I’ve had fun each time I read old entries and saw the old back and forth noting. There were my favs older than me who have helped me grow up and noted the change they saw. There’s my favs who have grown parrallel with me, from teens with chips on their shoulders to being married with children

Oh in a perfect OD world we’d all still be writing entries about having kids. And it would be a beautiful sight to behold!

So this is my last entry, I thought I’d go back to my first entry back in 2003. It said nothing. I talk about life now, philosophies and recollections. Back then this site was a quick way to waste time because my girlfriend at the time had a diary on here. So she got me to start one too. Which got me to think about the perfect vision of hindsight. I mean I had no idea how much time I would spend on here and the friendships I’d make and how much it would become a part of me. And then finding out it would not be continuous, it was all on a limited time, is kind of disheartening

If I re-wrote my first entry, it would go like this:

"Dear Diary, (I’ve actually never done that, haha. But it’s my last entry so why not?)

I am about to embark on a ten year journey with you. I’m going to talk your ear off about what amuses me and at times you’ll be my shoulder to cry on as I pour my heart out. This is strictly a one-sided relationship because you will never talk to me about your pain or happiness, haha. Other authors will though, and I will enjoy a friendship with them that will be unlike any other I’ll ever make

I’ll start this as a lost, young man. Fresh out of high school, no real ambition yet assuming the world will be given to me in due time because I’m generally a nice guy. At the tail end of our journey, I would have realized the world is not served to you on a silver platter. I built that ambition, I put the hard work into it and achieved everything I thought I would, and things I never thought I would because I didn’t think I was worthy of it

I’ll start this as a love sick fool who has never known heartbreak and thought love is a fairy tale. Midway through our journey I’ll find that’s not true. I’ll later rediscover that it is true. When it’s all said and done, the soft-spoken shy kid in high school with no self-confidence will transition to the popular drunk in college, then to the alcoholic douche in the bar scene, concluding with being married to the beautiful, popular sorority girl from those college days. With whom we now have a son

I will neglect you, diary. I will only come and go as I please. Then when I see the ten years is at its end,I wil write one last ridiculously sentimental entry to bid you farewell. And hopefully these friends I’ve made on here leave a last note to that last entry so when I download it I’ll always see their farewell too

Have a Nice Day!"

Okay two thing wrong with my re-written first entry: First being that I didn’t type like that before. I did the slangs and abbreviations and using an apostrophe instead of the ‘g’ in verbs, haha. I never changed my front page so it’s evident there!

And secondly, I didn’t start using my "moral of the story" schtick back then. It’s such a part of me now, it’s just wrong not to have one. But I didn’t want to have two of those in this entry

As I bid this place adieu, if anyone wants to keep in touch leave your name and email in a note below! Now for my final ‘moral’ to sum up the closing of this community we’ve all been a part of for so long….

moral of the story: "We’ve been going to the same party for 10 years and in no way is that depressing…" – Ron Burgundy (Come on, I was sentimental throughout this thing, I had to put my humor in it!)

Have a Nice Day!

I said hello to you as this kid, with a crazy wrestler as a role model, trying to find himself in life

And I leave you as a dad, hoping he’ll be able to teach his son good morals, good values, and how to find himself in life