Unbelievable. I just can't. You exploded. What happened? Remember when...
You followed me up the mountain, panting and climbing and trying not to trip over the root system of Craggy Gardens... You called for me to wait. I turned around and you raised your arms. I picked you up and we began to run upward, forward, onward to the pinnacle of paradise.
Remember (my favorite moment) when I heard heavy breathing behind me. I turned around and realized that you had been following me up a steep climb, with a walking stick and muddy rain boots and runny nose and I just can't stop crying right now as I type this.
Because you mean the absolute world to me! I learned pretty quickly that I had an unreasonable and irrational amount of love for you. And that if anything were to ever happen to you, I would be a complete disaster. I would have to be admitted into a psychiatric hospital because a broken heart could not function.
This weekend I was cleaning out and detailing the 2014 Mazda 6 (My dream car!) and knowing that you would be taking it on Tuesday, March 21st, 2023. I scrubbed and cleaned every inch, and got everything all perfect. I wanted you to be so happy! You have worked so hard to earn my trust, and I willingly give it to you with the grace of God.
My parents came over and we did our traditional circle, naming and listing the memories and character qualities that we most admire about you. This, of course, has become the routine of the family! We all affirmed your courage, and your talent, the memories and stories of absolute insanity (rolling around on the bowling lane and/or the dance floor!?) and Mariah reflected on the bond of doing A Christmas Story with you, getting ready and learning together.
But my favorite memory might just have been... Sunday afternoon when you took the key and pulled out of the driveway and drove away. I stopped to capture this picture, and I brushed those tears aside.
Tears of joy. Tears of joy. Tears of indescribable joy.
