FERNIE MAGRI GOT HITCHED.

Fernando Magri was my best friend in high school. He graduated a year before I did, enrolled in the Air Force, and when last I spoke to him--roughly two years ago--he had just returned from a brief assignment in Saudi Arabia and was stationed north of Miami, the city we had grown up in. It's strange when I think about it; after he graduated from high school, the Air Force sent him to Utah for three years. Meanwhile, I went on to do three years at Swampwater U, before transferring to NYU. But in the intervening years, Fernando had to put up with my near-constant whining, about how I hated Miami, how I had to get the hell out of that tourist trap town before boredom drove me out of my skull. And I had to put up with his insistent, and ridiculously romantic, yearnings for the old pit. It was never as nice a place to grow up in as you thought it was, Magri. And just maybe it was never as bad as I remember it, though I'm pretty sure I remember it right.

But now we're all older. I got an e-card out of the blue from the guy. The first thing he mentioned is that he recently got married--civil ceremony, few guests, 15-minute wait. Nothing makes you feel your age like hearing one of your best friends has gotten hitched. Then Fernando wrote, "By the way, Happy 24th Birthday, bud! Can you believe how old we've both gotten?"

Nothing makes you feel your age like hearing one of your best friends has gotten married--and having him remind you that you're a year older.

Still, it was great to hear from an old friend. Fernando, if you're reading this, words cannot describe how happy I am both for you and your new bride. You did not grow up with the most advantages or opportunities, yet you worked your ass off, carved out a place for yourself, and found someone with whom to share your life and most-deserved acheivements with. No one deserves this happiness more than you. Perhaps I will even tell you this one day. But in the meantime, congratulations.