“Entertaining provides an escape from reality for me, as well as an amazing way to express myself.  There is no greater joy than knowing you have moved another person with your performance.” –Brian Spahnie

 

The first time I met Brian, he was getting off the bus from school and Emily, Morgan, and I were sitting in our car talking.  Still in the 8th grade, he said a quick hello and headed inside so as not to annoy his brother.  Over the next three years, I became closer with Brian through theatre and by spending time with him and Morgan.  I found that, as with Morgan, I was able to make a very close connection with him, even though I had never really had close male friends before.  Junior year, I began driving him home after rehearsals because Morgan did not participate in all of the productions, and that same year I asked him to our Winter Formal Sadie Hawkins dance.  That summer Emily, Morgan, Brian, and I went to Chicago for the second time, and we became closer still.  As my senior year started, I began mentoring Brian, as Morgan had done for me, in journalism, showing him all the ins and outs of The Devilier so that he could become Editor-in-Chief when I left.  Our relationship blossomed on January 9, 2015, when my sister left for Spain again.  That evening, I was hanging out with Brian so that I wouldn’t be so upset about Emily leaving, and while we were watching a movie, he asked if we could go to Kmart to get deodorant.   Not questioning the weird request, I said sure and we got in my car and started driving.  During that car ride, Brian came out to me.  We were already close friends, and I was elated that he trusted me enough to tell me.  His coming out to me improved our relationship ten-fold because we both realized that we could tell each other anything.  We began spending much more one-on-one time together, he was my Prom date, and soon he became one of my very best friends.  Throughout my first year of college, we have remained extremely close, and he has visited me here several times.  My friendship with Brian has taught me so much: patience, trust, how to adequately deal with my friendship jealousy, and above all, how to love deeper.  Spending time with him brings me so much joy, and I love that I can tell him anything and he’ll understand completely because we are basically the same person, personality wise.  This past year, I have almost been prouder and happier about his successes than he has, and when he was cast as Shrek in our high school’s production of Shrek the Musical, his last show, I was so giddy, it was almost as if I had seen my name on the list.  It was such an honor to work with him in theatre for three years, but to watch him on that stage this year has made me so proud.  I long to be able to move my future students the way he is able to move an audience.  I absolutely love watching him perform and leave it all out there on the stage, and he inspires me so much to put my all into my passions and do what I love.