The Man With The Beard

The earliest memory I have of The Man With The Beard is seeing him in pictures and videos. I'm not sure if my perception of him was shaped by these different forms of media, or by my family. A little of both most likely.

Either way, once a year he would come to visit our house and I could hardly sleep the night before. I'd spend weeks waiting for him, waiting to what he would surprise me with this time! The Man With The Beard never disappointed either, he would bring me exactly what I'd been wanting. Of course, after sending him letters and visiting with his look-a-likes, I'd have been surprised if he didn't bring me at least one thing I wanted.

At my house I always knew The Man With The Beard would come at some point in the middle of the night, and so I would leave my bed periodically throughout the night to check. Each year, the early hours of December 25th definitely saw an increase in bathroom visits in the Roberts' house.

I'd lay in my bed convincing myself I had just heard what had to be hooves on our tin roof. But I knew I couldn't run out just yet, and so I would lie there shaking with excitement, gathering up all the self control my little body could handle.

Eventually of course one of my "bathroom visits" would reveal what I'd been waiting for: a tree surrounded by presents!! No matter if it was barely 12 am, or close to sunrise, no time was too early for me to run around and wake everyone in the house.

The fact that my adult family members allowed this each year is one of my favorite Christmas memories, I know they had to be so sleepy!


I'm sure my excitement was contagious though as I'd barely be able to rip off the wrapping paper from my hands shaking so much. The Woman Who Shaped Me would sit by and be just as excited, giving The Man With The Beard all the credit for all the wonderful gifts I was getting.

After all the presents were opened it was an all-nighter in my house, no way was I going to sleep with all the new stuff I had! Once it was an appropriate time, I'd call my Aunt and cousins to see if The Man With The Beard had stopped by their house yet. Year after year he would come by, munch on some cookies, and leave our stockings bulging and the space under our tree filled.

The magic that The Man With The Beard brought to my life each year is one of my favorite parts of my childhood, and why Christmas is my favorite holiday to this day. Of course, now that I'm older a lot of The Man With The Beard's magic isn't as effective on me, sadly. But it's just one more reason that I can't wait to have kids of my own, so that hopefully one day I can introduce them to the excitement and magic that The Man With The Beard brings around each December.

The Boy With The Wigs

Normally stealing alcohol at a party would not be something you'd think twice about, and I sure didn't the night I found the lone bottle of bubble gum vodka sitting on the counter. I was at a party where I only kind of knew people, and as I had gotten there late, everyone else was already feeling good whereas I was completely sober and in desperate need for some "social lubricant." Little did I know that this particular bottle of vodka would be the beginning of a long line of bottles I'd be sharing with The Boy With The Wigs.

Not long after we were again introduced at some social event where I had definitely gotten a hold of plenty of alcohol and so felt it appropriate to confess to The Boy With The Wigs how I had stolen some of his liquor. Of course he didn't mind and ended up inviting me to what would be one of my favorite Summer/Fall activites: Bonfire Parties! Something about being drunk out in a field around a fire under the star filled sky really made us all lose our inhibitions. Those few times I was lucky enough to go will definitely be moments that I'll always remember.

But it wasn't until Halloween when The Boy With The Wigs and I, along with The Boy With The Lips, really sealed our friendship bond with a bottle of Rumple between the three of us. We finished off the bottle with a celebratory three-way kiss of course.

Realizing we'd happened upon something special, we spent many of the following months going to one party or another, always getting everyone on our level, and convincing boys to kiss us when we could. The Boy With The Wigs was convinced I had some sort of magical power of persuasion over these boys. I must admit I have no idea why they were all so willing to kiss us just by request. I guess it's true though, "ask and you shall receive."

The Boy With The Wigs became a constant fixture in my life, always coordinating my social life, as well as being there for me for any deeper emotional venting/support that I needed. It was through The Boy With The Wigs that I was introduced to The Boy With My Heart, along with countless other invaluable friends, many who have a post of their own here on my blog. Each party The Boy With The Wigs would show up in a new outfit (accompanied with a wig of course) that went just that little bit more than his last. His outfits were one of the most anticipated events at a lot of parties, and he was never one to disappoint.

But my favorite part of The Boy With The Wigs is when he takes the wig off, his true self. It's then that you can fully appreciate him as his heart blossoms open in front of you and he pours all his love out for all to see, no holding back. I've never witnessed someone go above and beyond to help their friends and family like The Boy With The Wigs does. I believe you'd be hard pressed to find a person who has come into contact with him that can say that he didn't have some sort of positive affect on their life. The Boy With The Wigs is truly an inspiration in the way that he lives his life and in his love for others.

He's really someone you must know, you see. ;)