Sea Admiral Cory Smith

So I got a text from Ma Boiiii Cory Smith the other day. It really blessed me, a little heartfelt message that you probably wouldn't get if I posted it. So just imagine a long time friend that you haven't seen in over 6 months saying something really heartfelt that just makes you praise God. Yeah, whatever you imagined, it was just about exactly like that.

The crazy thing is that Cory, friend of mine since first grade or so, has a girlfriend. Kind of a serious girlfriend. Now, that may seem like just a general comment on life, not newsworthy. But you are SO wrong if you think this is anything less than earth-shattering, the-apocalypse-is-on-us, "wait, is that a typo" type of news. Cory is an amazing guy and a great friend. But boyfriend material? Uh, well, let me tell some stories....

In High School Cory had this million candle-watt flashlight (is candle-watt the right unit? is a million even a big number for that? sorry, that's the engineer in me talking about an unfamiliar dimensional analysis). And he assembled a little crew, calling them the IACG. This was a random group, the members came and went, it was never official. But Cory was certainly the ring leader. Because of course, he is the only one who could come up with something like the
INVOLUNTARY
ABSTINENCE
CONTROL
GROUP

That's right, we would cruise around Muscatine to all the possible make-out spots with the million candle watt flashlight on high alert for any... loiterers? (for lack of a better term). In all my time riding with him, I don't think we ever found any cars with steamy windows. Probably for the better. I did hear about the time he caught a mutual friend parked with his girlfriend (nothing was actually happening [yet?]) and a car chase ensued, Cory narrowly evading the maroon Santa Fe driver that I won't name here. This car chase is second only to the famous Muscatine Mall "The Fast and the Gay" car chase of '04 instigated by Josiah Street. Epic. Both times, Cory and the nimble little Buick narrowly escaped with their lives. Seriously, this should probably be made into a movie...

Hopefully you're getting the picture of Cory a little bit here. A legend among those who know him. Just another guy with a size 8 head to those who don't. [Note: average head size is around 7.25] The saga continues:

During daytime hours, the IACG would morph into a different kind of Public Service: The Happy Smile Patrol. Again this involved Cory's Buick cruising the streets of Muscatine rocking Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys or Huey Lewis and the News. But this time we would have windows down to be able to assist any passers by, giving them encouragement and such. We would yell things like "HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY" "NICE WEATHER ISN'T IT" and my personal favorite "I LIKE GOLF." The all-caps is hopefully conveying the urgency and power with which we proclaim the message. Loud and proud, possibly in a way that some might percieve it to be angry. But we at the Happy Smile Patrol take our job seriously, the message needs to get out there to the people. Oh, who am I kidding, we annoyed joggers and moms pushing strollers like no one before or since.

So this is the legacy of Cory Smith. Up to this point the loves of his life were the St. Louis Cardinals, ice hockey, and the poker game Guts--or more specifically, the hand Jack-Six and it's power to win every game of Guts.
Enter Sam.
The girl.
I hope she's a brave one.
She probably doesn't know about IACG. She would probably throw things at the Happy Smile Patrol. But for all the descriptions of Sam that I've heard so far, she seems like the PERFECT match for Cory. It's kind of unreal. I've yet to meet her, but she sounds amazing. I know that Cory has gone head over heels for her. It's pretty cool to see happen, even though I'm seeing it from quite the distance.

And now a twist of seriousness, of which the likes IACG and HSP have little capacity to combat. Sam is in amazing health, she's like a three-sport college athlete, or at least I know for sure that she's on the women's hockey team at her school. But in a routine physical a month or so ago, they caught the beginning stages of leukemia.

Lord, come. We need you God!

It's been cool to see how Cory's responding. This goofball is suddenly becoming, by the grace of God, a rock of refuge for this girl. He's there for her, even though he's got to be at his Navy base most of the time several miles away.

So please be praying for Sam. If she's as amazing as the rumors, I know she can beat this. Especially with the help of the Glorious One, Jesus Christ. He's been making this whole story glorious from the beginning.

The whole point of this post I guess was to say, I miss you Cory and I'm excited to see you and meet the lady here over the holidays. IACG 4eva, baby!