“True friends are the people that are there for you unconditionally. They are the people that never question you and support you no matter what the circumstances are. They are the people worth living for.” ~ author unknown

“Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.”
~ Elbert Hubard

Its been almost seven years since Mary was hired for the university job in Kansas City, moving us from a place I was tired of….Tulsa, OK…but friends who I loved dearly. I had prayed that we would find good friends, especially couples, once we moved. James and Julie were the first answers to that prayer.

Today is James’ birthday and I want to be one of the first to wish him a very happy, wonderful day. James’ friendship is an indescribable blessing to me and I’m so grateful for our ever-growing relationship. Always giving, always laughing, James is an inspiration to be around. The domain name Stainless Steel Droppings dot com is a gift from James and he is my computer guru when it comes to things website related. You can see his work and get different glimpses of who James is at his wife’s site here and his gaming website here.

James has also fairly recently went into business for himself and you can see the site of his business, Integrity Countertops, here. They do a great job. My kitchen cabinets and countertops were done by James and they are wonderful!

“The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.”
~ Abraham Lincoln

Early on in our relationship James and I got hooked on the computer game Half-life and many a night was spent online playing at one or the other’s house. We’ve both moved on to different PC games but we still occasionally get together for LAN parties and gaming. One of the things I enjoy most about our friendship is the childlike excitement we both have about PC’s and gaming. I don’t have the love affair with my printer that he does with his new printer, but that’s another story!

Being close to the same age we both grew up as Star Wars fanatics and I’ve had the joy of attending all 3 of the second trilogy with James, including a midnight movie of Episode II in which we waited in line for about 5 hours…only to sit next to someone who had just walked in the door! 🙂 Star Wars and gaming were really the things that helped cement the friendship early on for me. I knew if James could be that excited about Star Wars that he was a friend after my own heart!

James introduced me to the joys of dark beer. I had never really tried dark beer before meeting James and though neither of us are frequent drinkers I have the occasional pleasure of sitting down to a delicious black and tan and savoring the wonderful flavor of it. Thank you Jimmy, good beer really can taste good, contrary to popular belief!

As you can see in the picture above, in addition to his lovely wife Julie, James has four adorable daughters. I count them all as added benefits of this treasured friendship. They each are unique in their personalities but every one of them is funny and charming and alot of fun to babysit.

Coincidentally Jimmy, Missouri became the 24th state of the Union on this date in 1821 and the Smithsonian Institute was created in 1846. The 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, shares your birthday with you as well as stars Rosanna Arquette and Antonio Banderas!

Happy Birthday, James! You are a terrific friend and I am sincerely thankful for you. I enjoy that we can sit and watch entertaining movies and have a great time and also enjoy the serious conversations that we have. You are a genuinely good person which is a rarity in this day and age. Thanks for your friendship and all that it means to me and my family. I look forward to many more years of good food (James is a gourmet on the grill by the way), good drink and overall good times!

Everyone else, please wish James a ‘happy birthday’!!!

“Wherever you may be it is your friends who make your world.”
~ author unknown