Chasing Ideals

I am well convinced that I am the luckiest chap on the planet. I'm twenty four years old today and to read these well wishes from my family and friends I am amazed and so thankful for where my Savior has taken me and who he has created me to be. Alright I've said enough. That's hard to write and I'm sure for you all to believe.

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We all know that Skyler is an extraordinary person who has brought something into each of our lives in a special way. A birthday is a time to honor and remember him and his gifts to us, and it would be a real shame if had to extol himself this year although I’m sure he could do a fine job being gifted as he is with many words. The most extraordinary thing about Skyler to me is he is the only person I know who has let the true love of Christ pass from his mind to his heart and therein bursts forth life. Not too many of us have seen or known love the way he expresses it, and although not perfect it is a joy to experience. And to top it off he is not even boring-he’s fun, has a great sense of humor (this even being one of his sin areas!!), enjoys the richness that life has to offer, is very caring, passionate, a servant to the core and a joyful giver. I can honestly say there are not many like him and he is one of the great gifts in my life.
I’ll save the other amazing details for the next birthdays, as there will be many more and I hate to be repetitive.
Skyler, I love you and admire you thoroughly and hope and pray that your 24th year will be the best yet,
Your better in most
Always, Tara


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Dear Scooter,
Another year and another chapter in your book, I am glad to be apart of your story and you’re a part of my novel. I am blessed to be a part of a great family, you all are so different in your own ways. I love that you are a very caring fellow from the days in your green pool and now we are in-laws and you are the uncle to my son. A brother I consider you and you will do great things, they will write books about you. Comedy? Drama? Educational? Romance novel? Another chapter in the Bible? I am proud that you are traveling and doing many things that people just talk about and being able to share your adventures with us all here. We look forward to seeing your red bearded mug again and it is less than a month so get ready sweet cheeks I will be seeing you on the Emerald Island. Happy Birthday “iyi mutlu lar” Have fun in Turkiyi, have some raki for me. Love Floyd


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Dear Skyler:
Happy Birthday, Skyler! I really miss you, Paul
Happy Birthday, Skyler! I hope you have a grand birthday and that you will have a really good life!
Happy Birthday, SKyler! I hope you have a really great time on your birthday. Come back to us!
Happy Birthday, Skyler! Bah Ty! David
Happy Birthday, Skyler! Hope I get to meet you one day! Jonathan :)
Happy Birthday SKyler! Hey Bro! It was precious to have spent time with you in Greece - let's do it again, somewhere else (Ireland one day? Poland too)
Happy Birthday, Skyler! You are mature beyond your years - and this traveling will mature you even more. Guess you're right around the corner from finding the one - youre so ready! We look forward to seeing you again - and watching some Fawlty Towers, or something like that!
Love from all of us on this very Happy Day!
Wiesiek, Nancy, Jonathan, David, Timothy, Hannah Joy and Paul and Happy our dog!


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The smell of fresh bread always reminds me about You Sky. It's your birthday so I invited myself to your world with a handful of words. I hope you don't mind. When you entered my world for a while I was trying to figure out what was it that made you so special. Now I realize it was your sincerity. Your words were real, sometimes unwanted, sometimes hurting a bit, sometimes funny, sometimes weird, sometimes filled with warmth and care. Always true. That's how I remember You. You're so fortunate. You know that.
Nikosh and Marcin are singing happy birthday for you and they're quite a choir, it's a shame you can't hear them.
Love from all of us
Milka


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November 22, 2006
Skyler,
It's not quite the 22nd in Phoenix, AZ but I'm pretty confident it is wherever you are right now. 24 in Turkey! Hopefully as exotic as it sounds. I can remember much of those 24 years being around for at least 8 more! I remember your cute blond curls, your blackened front teeth, your first day at school, your love of soccer and your fractured wrist. I remember you suddenly getting tall, your endless nightly bag repacking, the first car with the broken seat and expensive stereo, your first job. I have watched you change from socialite, to shy, to despairing, to life-and-people loving (quite few transformations) I have watched with a mixture of awe and fear never guessing that it would all lead to who you are today! At one time you sought only to fit in, now your strive for anything but that, which is truly what sets you apart. That and your love of people! Our family is the lesser without you. I hope your 24rd year is one of your best, that your travels are stress-free, that you find what your looking for and that you are at peace. Though my words to you are infrequent, I love you as much today as I always have, far too much to even describe.
your sister,
Lisa

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Skyler - the self proclaimed, but as of yet unproven, Stallion.
November 22nd 1982, a day that will live in infamy among Argentineans everywhere, the date that Skyler Mark Warren arrived on the scene. Hard to believe that was nigh 24 years ago. And now look at you, jet setting off to distant lands; pilfering portal usage from the unsuspecting Turkish, stuffing your undercarriage with an obscene number of Grecian mandarin oranges, navigating the perilous Albanian pot holes, drinking copious amounts of coffee with the Croatian mechanics, running through Polish towns clutching your bog roll, terrifying campers everywhere with random early morning coiffure adjustments and depositing your fluids on every surface from Krakow to Nowy Sanz. (We have been keeping track).

We are very blessed to get to share these amazing adventures with you and await your postings with as much enthusiasm as a todger has for todgering. You are a wonderful lad; loved by all you know you and have known you. Your strong desire to truly know people is evident in the way you connect with others no matter where you are or what the language differences. Your wonderful smile could melt the knickers off an 80 year old blind woman. You are willing to seek after relationships and not wait for them to come to you. You are forcing yourself to ‘let go and let God’ and by doing so inspiring the rest of us to remember why we are here.

So today, your birthday, we celebrate you; the man, the myth, the ever so gently violated by 17 Argentineans legend that is Skyler Warren.

Happy Birthday and get stuffed,
Love always
The Willis 4


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Skyler, you are my most treasured friend. You are:
friendly
out-going
funny
honest
intrepid
intelligent
caring
and 10,000 other good things I can't name. You are loving and lovable. I only wish I could be with you on your special day. Know that even though we are apart, I am celebrating with you in spirit. HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
[aj]


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Some angels told me a birthday is coming up. They said it was sky's birthday. A bit confusing at first. Why would the sky have its birthday on the 22nd of November? But then I remembered....sky...skyl...skyle....Skyler...yes, that Irish American or American Irish (however you wanna put it) dude that stayed with us for the first weeks of the World Cup here in Germany.

I met him on my flight to Atlanta in May (on may way back to Germany). Having to sit between two guys in the middle seat, and having spent three weeks with one of them already, I thought I should talk to the hairy face next to me who was reading this funny book... at least the little that I could read sounded strange to me. But knowing that Sky dude a bit more by now, it fits all together with his love for philosophy. He was a bit shy at first, because he was surprised that I started talking to him, but then he opened up quickly. I as quickly then invited him to stay at our place when he would come to Köln (Cologne). A few weeks later without any further notice he then suddenly came by and accepted to stay at our place for a while.

That Skyler really loves talking. That's his favorite. So we talked and talked...until my brain would get heavy and I needed to say Good Night.... The next day or so it could happen though that I was asked some of the same questions again. So I wondered, was it because of my English that he didn't remember? But we found out that with the huge number of questions he was asking, it was not easy to remember all of them and the answers as well. Which I think by now is one of his "lovable quirks".

Always a comforting warm smile on his face. A hug when it's needed. And man, you should get an option to get homemade bread from him, and the pasta by the way is lovely, too. An open heart for people and relationships, that's him! We had great conversations about God and our savior, and about people, and our dreams and plans.

Sky really cares for people, and I still want to learn a lot from him, even though we are far away from each other, but I think that it is possible despite the distance. I hope he finds the place of his ideals soon, so he can start working on the next goal that God has set before him.

THE END

Hey Sky, love you a lot, and I hope you enjoy your birthday. I'm looking forward seeing you soon. I'm sure February will come quicker than we can imagine right now.

God's blessings for you today, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and then the day after that day, ......

xxxxooooo Cathrin