The Flash:Rebirth

Today when it was a bit slow at work I was thinking about the return of the Flash. Now I konw in name he hasn't been gone. Wally West and Bart Allen have done a good job keeping the name in the public eye.
But I am talking about Barry Allen. The Flash: Rebirth is scheduled to come out April 1st. I can't wait.
Years ago I heard people my age and older say how they missed some of their favorite fictional characters and real celebrities. They talked about them like a family member or an old friend had died. I did understand and sometimes I wondered if there was something wrong with these people.
Now that time has passed I think I understand. When I was a kid I loved Elvis movies. I was an only child and wanted a brother. To me Elvis was my brother. When he died I didn't get sad. I was in high school and too busy with high school stuff. Not long ago I saw an Elvis movie and suddenly I missed my "older brother."
I can't say that Barry Allen was my brother but he was my older married friend. When I first met him he had been the Flash and married for years. Yet he was with me having fun adventures. In good tmes and bad the Flash was there for me. When I was in college my work load was nearly overwhelming. Yet I still made time to read his adventures. By that time Carmine Infantino had come back to the book. It seemed to spark the writing of Carey Bates and the good stories before became great. Sadly during the trial of the Flash word came down that the book was to be canceled. They dragged it out too long to stall for time as there was no reason to start a new one just to end the book. It was the only story that I got bored with the entire time I read the book. I stopped reading for a few months but I had to make sure I was there for the last issue of my buddies book.
Later I collected the mini-series Crisis on Infinate Earths. I didn't hear any advance on the book back then. So it was to my surprise and shock when Flash died. Even this did not make me too sad. I was happy that he at least died a hero.
Over time I kept up on Wally and Bart as they continued the heroic tradition that came with the name and the uniform by buying the book. I was proud of my buddies relatives. Now thanks to DC Comics and Geoff Johns on April 1st my old buddy is back. I can't wait to see him again. I jut hope it isn't an April fools joke.