dear brandon,

I awoke by your side this morning as I do a lot. After I finished up my laundry obligations we rode to my house and I didn't ride back. No, someone, who would be me in this particular situation, had to fill the small void on the 3rd floor of the art building that someone, or rather, some many people, have spent half their waking life in over the last few weeks. On my stroll into the windowed entrance and around the corner of the hall I run into Tom. And Tom, he is the perfect character. A hound dog you can't help but love. He talks a raised volume greeting to me as he limps, surprisingly quickly, forward. When we're close enough for conversation I can't help but study him. His long white beard, the icon of his face, still has surprises of brown hairs. The wrinkles, especially around those eyes that have seen so much, sometimes make my heart sink a little when I look at them too long. I'm sure it's because I'm reminded so much of my father. And his smile shows his teeth, few in number and crooked. But he has one of my favorite smiles. He has glasses, of course, but that always happens when you get old. I've been blessed with them for most of my life. And by blessed, I mean cursed. I'm glad to see he's wearing his lion shirt with cut off sleeves. When I imagine Tom, he wears this shirt. The classic lion head, mane and all, stares out to anyone who may have their doubts about him. It sits on the shirt's textured surface that you can't help but wonder if it's just built up stains. After concentrating so much on his physical self, I look at him. I look at him and his gestures, I listen to his words and how he says them, I smell cigarettes on his breath, and notice one stashed behind his ear. And this is beautiful. The whole scene creates a masterpiece. Here is a man who has been worn and weathered by the best and the worst. And here is a girl, so ignorant in her young age, oblivious to the limitless world she walks on. A reminder and a memory together in conversation. She looks at his folded time lines, anticipating whatever's to come, and he sees smooth skin and thinks of all he's been through. A lovely interaction that changes both of their days, if only in the slightest.

Tom reminds me of all the things to come. Of all the experiences to have. Of all the stories to eventually tell. Of how it's silly to be down when I know I will have an amazing life. We will live life amazingly, and sometimes that thought strays, and sometimes it feels like we'll never get out. But we just have to remind one another how great life is, and how better it will be. The sun shines almost everyday, and when it gets too hot there's a river, and when it rains it's exciting, and there are trees all over, and animals a lot of people don't really see, and a history that can still be felt. This is a good place to be, and we're lucky. We should enjoy it while we're here because time will soon change everything we know. And it's all so exciting, and it will be hard to wait.