Thanks Bill

Bill Watterson created a fantastic world with Calvin & Hobbes in 10 years. He finally decided to end the strip gracefully while he was still at his peak, not wanting this iconic strip to overstay its welcome or lose relevance. Here's the final comic that ran on December 31st 1995. I think its very apt for this particular phase of my life:

(c) Bill Watterson 

I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. 

If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night.

-Bill Watterson

Tomorrow

Beyond all our exaggerated fights & subdued squabbles, there's a better tomorrow. Beyond hunting for time & the frustration that accompanies failing, is tomorrow. There're just a few hours left today. We haven't spoken much, we haven't met; its been days since I last saw you, took in the scent of your hair as I held onto you; but tomorrow's another day, gives me one more reason to be optimistic. 

I may plan & obsess, but there's no telling how amazing tomorrow may actually turn out to be. Tomorrow, we'll be together, I'll love you just as much, maybe more, but tomorrow will be better than today and yesterday. Tomorrow we get to start afresh with a g'morning call, not knowing what course the next few hours will take. Tomorrow will be a brand new chapter in our lives together. Tomorrow, I'll make fresh promises, and break a few old ones; You'll try harder and then give up midway. But, by night tomorrow, we'll be better for having lived our successes and shortcomings. 

Tomorrows are where I live with you, there's always something better waiting around the corner. It doesn't matter if you can't care enough, I'll do that for the both of us. I'll dream intricate dreams for tomorrow, weave tales around our heads. Tomorrow I'll lay down with you once again; those impatient hands of my watch will wait for me. I'll take in the way the light plays with your curves. Your curves, I'll take them all in, like I'd never see them again. Tomorrow I'll tell you things I've hidden from you for so long, and then tell you what I can't say enough; I'll be repetitive, but I won't be boring, I promise you that. You'll want me to go on and then I'll stop, just to feel how effortlessly your hand fits into mine. I'll trace every crease of your palms, your fingers. I'll trace that arc from your toes flowing onto your feet, legs, knees, I'll keep on going. I won't stop till the wrinkles in the sheets tell our tale; of how we lived, loved, died and came back to life together. Those moments, I should hate them, they pass too quickly. There's nowhere else I'd rather be, no one else I'd rather do nothing with. That window, the fumes of coffee & passersby, all oblivious to our day to remember. Tomorrow, I'll do everything you want, I'll make sure that smile doesn't leave your face. Tomorrow, I'll make elaborate plans for the rest of the day, how I'll push aside the hair from your face, to reveal a smile. Forget my plans, these sheets have been so good to us, it'll be criminal to leave them. 

Tomorrow can't get here soon enough. Thank god, tomorrow's only a few hours away. Beyond that, another tomorrow awaits the light of day. 

What a magical journey its been, with friends from Narnia

You have just as much power over choosing your friends, 

as you do over choosing the day you were born

All I do now is look back at the series of most fortunate events. Happy accidents, that's what I'd call them. We never really chose our company, these men and women we walk with. There wasn't a grand plan at work. But, 'we' worked together. We just moved on with our lives, ceaselessly, sometimes aimlessly. There wasn't any grand plan, we weren't capable of making it as good as it turned out anyway. 

That very first day; it was filled with a lot of "Where are you from"s. Such trivial questions! It didn't really matter, we were in this together for the long haul. Five years is very long time, or so we thought. Five scorching summers, five humorous monsoons, five faux winters & innumerable days in between. We lived our lives in these seasons. 

We stepped foot into an unfamiliar, untamed land, & made it our own. It didn't matter how far it is where you were from, or how long it took you to get here. 'Here' is what mattered, & here it seems we would be together without end. Today's not a good day, but it's as good a day as any for saying 'so long'. From lengthy testimonials, short notes, status updates, blog posts to things that're obviously left unsaid; today they all seem deficient. Another day, we'll be 'here' once again, laughing about all that conspired today. How did we get so messed up in the moment? That day wasn't a conclusion to those five years. It just signaled yet another change of season.

We didn't choose one another, but let's say we did, and pat ourselves on the back anyway. We'll meet again someday, right where and when we left off.

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