I love words. They are so powerful.
For my sixteenth birthday, I received this note from my Uncle Dave. These are some of the most precious words I have ever read.
Four years later, they still bring happy tears to my eyes.
I'm so thankful for this man and for the friendship we've had for the past twenty (!) years.
Anyway, take a little peek into my world!
------
Our family has many wonderful memories of watching you grow up.
Michelle recalls your graceful goodbye at the brick house, when neither vomit nor gravity could keep you from saying your farewell to us.
Carson has lovely memories of smelling feet with you, makes him laugh just reliving the moment.*
Kate's memories..."I love you."
Hootie does not really care, to be honest.
As for me, the memories are sweet and deep. You and I had a bond like no other, starting literally from your birth. I helped welcome your hair and you to this world. I watched you develop from a tiny baby into the cutest monkey I have ever seen. You were fun to listen to and harass. We watched the Lion King many times until you were finally brave enough to watch the "Ta die part." You would be my best friend until Grandma Judy came home and everything unraveled. You threw me to the dogs, telling Grandma, "De-de-da was really naughty and needed spanks." Thing was your ritual every day and it happened without fail. Nothing made you happier than Grandma yelling at me, which in turn made me happy, watching the joy you got out of it. As you got bigger and I babysat, I remember having to give you a spank, Big Mistake. You told everyone in the world that Dededa gave me a reaaallly big spank, but our relationship recovered. I was around you when you formally changed your name to "Suzy-galloozy-maggy-o-pig-butt-big-3-girl-pizzahead" - a little long, I must say, but you insisted. As time went on you became a real person. You began to read and think on your own. I, too, had to go to school in order to stay ahead of you. It was hard to be away from you. When I returned, you had grown up a lot but amazingly we were still pretty close. You loved your family, friends, and even your dogs. A super sweet and naive girl... yeah, naive like when you discovered gravity on your bike off Taylor's jump, and the importance of a helmet. It's funny how memory is just like an Etch-a-Sketch, a few good shakes and it's gone. The best part of all was watching you play with my kids. This told me that even after all the chances I had to screw up our relationship, you did not let me. Thank you for being such a big part of my life, for the awesome memories, and for turning out so incredible.
-------
*Yes, this really happened. Carson and I are ten years apart, but from day one we've been buddies. He just melts me. He can get me to do just about anything - "Whitney, wanna go hide and smell our feet?!" You bet I do, kid.
