Music for post:

In a both sad, and gleeful event, my programming buddy, and friend, Tomxcd, has graduated highschool; while this post is meant to commemorate our great time together, and hope for a continued future of remote code talk and website upgrades, I will not be sharing any sensitive personal information about him.

Tom is a great guy, he's funny, smart, and has an optimistic outlook on life. He has a good understanding of various programming (and normal) languages; from PHP to Javascript, from English to Japanese to German; he has a skill set in almost every field imaginable.

He often updates his website and is devoted to the highest Onion level tomfoolery.

While I, and many others, will miss his lunch room PHP chit-chat, his spur of the moment ideas, and his guidance on how to swear in Japanese; I hope his future will hold true to his values of "Dragons, Dragons, and Dragons", and he will succeed in whatever field he ends up going into.

While shedding tears won't be in order, I have one (Hopefully not last) message to you Tom:

From the first moment I talked to you during lunch after you donated blood, to the last time I saw you skipping towards the exit yelling “I’m finished! I’m finished! I’m finally finished!” With glee for all the school to hear,
You were a great fellow nerd and friend, and I will forever remember the hours of time we spent looking at random projects, each other's websites, blog posts, and generally having a great time.
So dear Tom, forever will you be a fellow nerd, friend, Dragon enthusiast, and an overall great guy.
Forever will your reactions to my messy code be in my memory;
Forever you will have the funniest blog posts I’ve ever seen;
Forever will you be the only one who cared to take a second glance at my code and actually care about it;
Forever will you be my friend.

While our time together may have been short, it was the best Trimester I've ever had, the best takes I've ever taken seriously, and the best friend I've ever had the pleasure of chatting with. So Tom, go into the world with a positive outlook on life, a great mind, and great friends;
Tom, Succeed in life and make the most of it;
Tom, Live a long, happy life, and make many many jokes. Tom go into the world knowing I, and many others, are thinking of you;
Tom, know that we will never forget you;
Tom, never will I forget how much of a great person you are.

PS: Finally updated my blog to use EB Garamond, your favorite font.

—With great outlooks on life: Joshua Thayer, stuck behind you in age, yet so alike in heart.