Hey, you.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but I think about you all the time. How is wherever you are? I’m sure it’s a lot better than down here. We miss you more and more every day. It’s just not the same. Things have changed a lot since you left, some for the better, some for the worst.
We sold your house a while back. That one hurt a lot. Saying goodbye to the big white walls and the infectious smell of the wood burning stove tore at the strings of my heart. Giving that up was something I didn’t expect to ever happen. We knew it was time to let go, but we never thought the time would actually come.
I drove past your old house before I left. It still doesn’t feel right to not know the owners. The walkway to the welcoming front door that was once so familiar is now a foreign path to an unknown family. It’s weird. I don’t know how else to put it, but it’s weird.
I blinked and now I’m in college. Yeah, I made it to college. The rest of high school was alright. I was more than ready to leave the drama and 6:40 wake-up calls. College is better than I could have ever expected, and I’m more than grateful that I’m here. I know you had a lot to do with that, and I thank you endlessly.
The family is doing just fine. Believe it or not, we got a dog—a furry, slobbery, cuter-than-anything dog. He sure keeps us busy; he’s a good distraction to keep from any waves of sadness. The waves still come, but he makes them just a little more bearable.
There have been some tense moments since you’ve been gone. Some have passed, some have not. It has made the dynamic much different from what it used to be. You would’ve known what to do. That’s one of the things I miss the most. You always knew what to do, what to say.
The world has gotten a lot scarier in the past few years. Home doesn’t feel as safe as it used to and it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. There are a lot of messed up people trying to do harm for no real reason. I hope that my generation and I can bring about some kind of change because the world is desperate for one.
I miss the little things about you. I miss seeing you at my sports games and school events. I told my mom to save you a ticket for graduation because I forgot. That stung. I miss being able to talk about anything with you. I know you didn’t care much for teenage drama and angst, but you listened anyways. I appreciated that. I miss helping you cook Sunday night dinner. Those were always my favorite nights of the week because I got to do it with you.
Life is good and bad. I don’t have too much to complain about, which I guess makes me pretty lucky. I wish I could’ve given you some of that luck, too.
I don’t have much else to say besides that I miss you a lot. We’re getting by down here. I just wanted to let you know that I’m doing alright.
Love always,
Me
