Friend a Day – Kelly McCullough

Kelly is one of my oldest friends.  As he once said, we were nerds together in grade school.

He went on to say that we got better but the years have proven that his latter statement was quite wrong.  We are both still nerds.  We’ve just begun to make something of a living at it.  Him much more than me.

Even when we were young, what impressed me most about Kelly was his fearlessness.  This led him to take a lot of insane risks when we were in our twenties but it also led him to become a talented and successful writer.  He is one of those people who decides he wants to do something and then simply does it.

His writing career is earned.  Every day I see him talking about how many words he wrote that day and what stories are in his pipeline.  He has truly embraced being a writer as a career and has found success there.  I’m happy to see that kind of success in people I admire.

Kelly is one of those people who will say yes to just about anything within reason.  On the rare occasions when I’ve asked him to help me with something, he doesn’t just say yes – he jumps in and makes the moment memorable.

And that is another thing about Kelly.  He is memorable.  He leaves his mark on everything and everyone who comes in contact with him.

He’s got a cheerful disposition that I can hardly ever recall wavering.  He always has a smile on his face as if he is just enormously pleased with who and where he is in life.  I don’t speak of ego but rather of someone who is supremely comfortable being himself.

I don’t see Kelly too much these days but I genuinely enjoy any time we get with each other.  A few minutes here or a Twitter exchange there are always enough to remind me why I’m happy that he’s somehow remained a part of my life for so long.

Kelly blogs about writing at kellymccullough.com.