Dear TJ, 

You have always been here for me, making your way into the world a whole month before I did. 

Since birth, we’ve been inseparable, communicating with baby gurgles before we could fully comprehend words nor could we fit our mouth around the shapes that the adults around us were constantly spewing. 

By the time we began to toddle and finally had a grasp on the English language, we began to grow even closer, bonding over toys and creating jokes only we could fully understand. 

Every picture of my birthday parties or at family gatherings, we were always within the frame of each other. Occasionally the photographer—typically one of our moms—would catch us glancing at each other, a hint of a smile in our eyes, catching the photo before or after we told a joke. 

I remember when I was little and I had to go home without you, I would just cry and cry, my young heart was torn apart to be without you, even if it was for a few months. My parents would try to console me in the car until there weren’t any tears left in my eyes and I would eventually drift off to sleep, my heart hanging heavily without you. 

I would spend the year living for the days I could finally see you: birthday parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas, going up north in the summer. Any time I could see you would make me so happy because I was finally seeing my best friend. 

Seeing Nana and Grandpa’s basement carpet reminds me of you, whether you’re there or not. It reminds me of the nights all of us cousins would have sleepovers in the basement, telling stories and jokes resulting in all of us having sore stomachs from laughing so hard, staying awake until the wee hours of the night. Pretending to be asleep when an adult would come downstairs after we were a bit too loud. We would think that we fooled them, but as I began to age, I realized that there was no way that we actually fooled them. Those nights are some of the best days of my life. 

Certain songs remind me of you, causing me to smile like the idiot I am. 

I love the games we’ve created over the years. I can’t believe that I’ve ever been that creative in my life. I remember pretending to be dragons in the yard in the UP. I remember the large assortment of games we would play on the grassy hill in Shanty Creek. I remember chicken fights we would have in the pools—we were the best team out there, completely dominating the competition. 

Our homemade movies were created for laughs even though many of them weren’t planned on being a comedy. 

Last year for my birthday, you and your family drove all the way to my house for my parade during the first bit of the COVID-19 lockdown. We broke all of the rules just to give each other a bone-crushing, much-needed hug. It was the best gift I could’ve received. 

I have no idea what the future holds for us, but whatever happens, I know that I can always count on you. 

I love you fellow future senior. 

Love, Brynn