The average family in the United States, 
or the socioeconomic perception of what average is, 
has a father, a mother, and 2.5 children. The 
average income is around seventy five thousand 
dollars a year. This is what we perceive a family 
to be. And after around twenty years of this 
existence, the families are broken up by 
graduations from high school and the children 
leaving the nest for college. College is an 
institution that fosters a shift in thinking, a 
revolution in the children so that they can become
 who they are destined to be, if destiny exists. 
This is my new domain; my year here has fostered 
my change. I tread in this domain like a wolf in 
a pack. The children who come here either grow up 
quickly or act their age. They are in many 
cultural classes; they hang in cliques. Some of these 
children will be my friends. They inevitably will 
join my family.

	And so, with the coming of summer and 
graduations from college, my family is once again 
ripped apart. A void now stands where my friends 
once stood, going home or leaving for far better 
places and positions in the world. There are gaps 
in my heart from where they once were. They can 
never be fully replaced, never be the people I 
shared my boredom with. Someone to sit with and 
smoke cigarettes in the middle of the night, just 
talking about our experiences in this world, 
someone to join me at purgatory (Waffle House) in 
the wee hours of the morning drinking diesel 
coffee and smoking the same cigarettes and still 
sharing the same stories of our youth. My family 
of friends and I have a bond, something shared by 
a common occurrence that shall go unspoken in this
 text for all of eternity. But that night, much 
like many that have come before and shall come 
again made us who we are, and tightened the bond 
between us. We are a family of many, forged by 
fire in the middle of the woods. 

	I speak these words not out of sadness at 
their leaving. I know that I will see them again 
and will remember my friends for who they are and 
what they did for me. I know that they will return 
victors of their destinies. But I still miss them,
 for a long while until I see them all again in 
one place.

	But then, a thing stirred in me last night. 
I was talking to my girlfriend on the phone. 
She’s from Maryland, and so the phone and instant 
messenger are our only means of communicating. I 
made her a photo album out of an old sketch book, 
writing comments about everyone I knew and had 
pictures inside. And then, we started talking 
about our families. I talked about my parents, 
my sister, my grandparents, aunts and uncles. All 
of them influencing me in one way or another, all 
having their effect on me in one way or another, 
changing me into who I am today. Then I talked 
about my family of friends. I talked about how we 
depend on each other, love each other even. Not 
in the sense of the way I love my girlfriend, but 
how I love my family. How I would lay down my 
life for them if asked. Then she talked about how 
she didn’t have that sort of relationship with 
anyone. I thought it might be a cultural thing, a 
southern phenomenon of sorts.

	But then I began to ponder it more last 
night after I got off the phone. I thought about 
The Band of Brothersand how Easy Company 
is portrayed. The bond of soldiers, while stronger 
than my existence with my friends, is similar to 
the way I feel. And I thought that maybe it wasn’t
 something regional, but something made by people 
alone. And so, I called her back and said “I love 
you, and I’ll always be there for you.” And with 
that, I got off the phone. And I thought some 
more, about how it was kind of sad that she 
didn’t have that sort of bond with her family, 
her own flesh and blood. That it was me and her 
mother really, and that was it. Her friends 
weren’t as dependable as mine were. And I am still
 depressed by that thought. How, I wonder, can you
 not have friends that you can call in a bind? 
How can you not have someone that would lay your 
life down for you?

	And I thought about it more today. And 
thought about it. And thought about it some more 
after that, all the while smoking cigarettes. 
And so, here it is. My tribute to my friends. 

	These people, whole I love like a family, 
are my family of four. They are my siblings, my 
home away from home. They are the friends I’ve 
always wanted to have, the people I’ve been 
waiting for my entire life. We were brought 
together at college, at a building called The 
Commons. And I thank them for helping me through 
my first year here. More people will join the 
family, and more will leave. I’ll still remain, 
giving myself a reminder of Jeff at Disney every 
time I think of a good Disney movie or Dance Dance
 Revolution. Thinking of Cue-Ball every time I cut
 my hair. Going to see Benji at the house and 
calling Eryn and Laura to see what they are up to.
 Finding out where Barbara is and writing her, 
hoping the Peace Corps is good to her. Giving 
Lauren advice about her artwork. Grabbing the 
Cheat by the hand before he leaves for his 
girlfriend’s place. Talking to Craig and J on the 
radio, always remembering them for who they are 
now and not who they will be in twenty years. 
Both of them, somewhat goobers in their behavior 
but still my siblings. 

	They will always be remembered. Thank you
my friends for being there when I needed you. 
Thank you for being my family of four.