Dear little brother, on your 22nd birthday:

So, we don't really hang out or anything anymore.

But I remember when we used to be best friends. Rollerblading up and down the sidewalk, biking around the block to see if we could get away with it. Panning for gold in the driveway. (Boy was that stupid.) Watching Dad build us a two story playhouse, and then spending all day every day playing house in it. I would make you go fetch berries and leaves for our dinner while I swept the floor and "washed" the dishes. Playing countless games of Marco Polo in the pool, or throwing the sinking sticks closer and closer to the 9 foot mark to see who was gutsy enough to dive down that far. Throwing things over the fence into the neighbor's yard and then hiding when their stupid dog started barking. Going over to Melissa and Eric's every night they were visiting their grandmother across the street, and playing our made-up hide and seek version... complete with Eric's stupid poking stick that he'd jab into suspicious hiding spots until we yelled.

Anyway, you're 22 now and that's pretty old. And I kind of feel bad that I really don't have many memories of you from the last ten years or so. I kind of remember you were starting to get annoying around age 12. And I remember telling you that I wasn't speaking to you ever again until you apologized for whatever you'd done to me. We went a whole two weeks like that, until you finally begged me to talk to you again. Sorry about that- I was kind of a brat back then. And I'm sure you were, too, but I should have been a better big sister about it.

Anyway, that's really the last thing I remember about you being young. Because then you opted to go to public school, and for the first time we weren't all together in one place every day. I kind of remember dropping you off at Granite Hills on my way to college classes, but they were pretty quiet four minute trips.

So it kind of sucks that we don't have much of a relationship anymore. Hopefully we can change that in the years to come. I feel pretty optimistic after our little conversation texts today, since you usually ignore my texts or calls. Must have been a sucky birthday for you to keep texting with me for half an hour. But I'm kind of glad you had the time.

Now can you please just tell me what you would like as a present?

Love, your big sis.

(Oh, yeah. Rockin' the highlighter colors in the late 80's.)