Ya'aburnee" is an Arabic expression that, to me, holds a particular poignancy. An incantatory phrase commonly used in Levantine Arabic, it translates as "you bury me" and expresses the hope that a loved one will outlive you so that you will never have to experience life without them. There are very few people in my life to whom I would apply this word, and today is the birthday of one of those people.
Yes, one of my best friends is turning 17 today, and all I have to say is that if he doesn't pass his driving test this morning, I will tease him mercilessly and without end. Regardless of that, I told him that as a birthday present I would write today's column for him. Admittedly, finding a word that adequately describes our friendship was pretty damn difficult, but considering the fact that we were both only several blocks from the explosions at the Boston Marathon yesterday, "ya'aburnee" suddenly became eerily fitting.
We met about four years ago at sailing camp - because we're dorks like that - and have since become the most bizarre and closest and bizarrely closest of friends. But actually though, our friendship is f--king weird sometimes. It has consisted of such inexplicably odd moments as purposely capsizing a boat in dangerous levels of wind multiple times, teaching him to drive when he was 14 in broad daylight and in full view of a police officer, spending the night sleeping in my car in a community pool parking lot and consistently running into celebrities who are somehow connected to Tina Fey - Scott Adsit and Tim Meadows, what up? And as a side note, I would never say this to his face - Ha. Who am I kidding? I totally would, but he is a total freak of nature.
In the best possible way.
Usually.
Now, I don't literally hope that I'll die before him. In fact we've discussed this multiple times, and we have decided that, as he is the one with the eating habits of a morbidly obese Texan while I pay an inordinate amount of attention to my consumption of whole grains and fresh produce, he will be the one to die first. And if the Taco Bell doesn't kill him, I just might. But if I were extrapolating the essence of "ya'aburnee" to suit our friendship, it would translate to something like this:
You are a moron. But I love you. Like, a lot. An embarrassing amount, really. And even though I suck at showing you how much you mean to me, if you died right now, I would be seriously pissed off and would probably do Oprah's "ugly cry." But today is your birthday, and so by definition, you are currently doing the opposite of dying. Please continue to do this, as I would be an unmitigated wreck without you in my life. Your only option is to live forever. End of argument.
Oh my god, I'm literally cringing at this sappiness. Backspace! Backspace!
But if I'm going to be sappy, I'll say this: I often think that the words we use say much more about the people who use them than about the language itself. I would think, then, that the people who use "ya'aburnee" are capable of a profound depth of emotion, and that being able to express oneself that beautifully and simply and nakedly is never not something to aspire to. So...
Ya'aburnee, Aaron, and the happiest of birthdays. And if you fail your test today, I'm never letting you drive Velma ever again.
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Falcon Reese is a junior majoring in sociology. He can be reached at Falcon.Reese@tufts.edu or on Twitter @falconreese.
