Happy Pi Day, dear reader! I may not do well in keeping track of other events such as birthdays, carpools, days of the week, months, what have you, BUT. I do set my clock by March 14 in order to commemorate that most constant of all numerals: dear, darling pi.
I wonder if Richard is celebrating Pi Day? He was, and he might be surprised to know this, my best friend from school. I met him in the 8th grade, though we were vaguely aware of one another prior to then, given that I always beat him in violin competitions.
That might be a false memory, by the way. The part about the violin competitions. But we both played the violin and I was way better than him.
That's okay, because Richard was better than me in almost every other aspect. He was brilliant. He still is. Just an incredibly bright mind when it came to anything, but especially numbers. I remember him telling me he learned to do fractions in the 1st grade. The 1st grade?! I was counting jelly beans in the 1st grade. So imagine how it affected him to have a friend who never knew what day it was, what page we were on, when an assignment was due.
It made him crazy, I'm telling you. Crazy.
I have such fond memories of Richard's incredulous expression, flipping through my textbook, stabbing the appropriate page with his finger, sputtering in disbelief.
Those were not some of the easier times in my life and looking back on it, I see that I basked in the candor and stability of his presence, of his hilarious, biting humor which was delivered with undertones of warmth (they were there, I know they were), of his ability to clearly explain math problems to me, of his brilliant mind and genuine ways which were for me like a panacea amidst the facades which are such an inevitable part of those years.
Anyway. Richard was one of those kids who moved out of town upon graduation, went on to study a bunch of numbers in college, ended up in Silicon Valley, and now, incredibly, divides his time between Las Vegas and San Francisco.
I'm not thinking of him especially because it's Pi Day. That would be too obvious. I'm just thinking of him because I do from time to time. And when I think of him I think of high school and how I relied on him probably more than he ever knew and I hope things are going awesome for him because I know a few amazing people on this planet and one of them is Richard.
p.s. with his permission, I'm also making mention of the fact Richard happens to be single. Never married, actually, and yes, a very cool guy. Very bright, though, I'm warning you. I have no idea who all comprises the Tollipop demographic and I feel a tad weird doing this, but to the ladies: perhaps you are single, too, perhaps you have a penchant for genuinely nice, brilliant guys, perhaps you are also very cool.
That's all the perhaps I'm going to say.
It's Pi Day, franchement. π is a reason to celebrate, if ever there was one.
