Dear Ricky,
You have been my Valentine ever since I could reach the Valentine’s Day mailbox on the dining room table. The thrill of finding my own name scrawled on a bag of skittles or gluey construction paper card in the mailbox is still unmatched. The little boxes of chalky hearts from Mom never lost their charm. The package containing lollipops and letters from Grandma Eldridge arriving, without fail, the day before is just as special today as it was in 1999. As special as all those traditions are, my favorite thing about Valentine’s Day is you.
Looking back over the 17¼ years, plus 9 months, I have known you, I realize how blessed we are. You and I have the best kind of relationship ever. Brother and sister. Yup, that is fully awesome. We’ve got the love without the romance. Even the Bible acknowledges that a brother is about as close as you can get, except to God (“…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother…” –Proverbs 18:24 ). Many times a brother can feel a little too close. You have to fight out who gets the front seat or whose turn it is to unload the dishwasher. You have to put up with morning breath and boogers on arm chairs. Then again, with brothers and sisters, you don’t have to pretend you’ve got your act together. You don’t have to guard your words and use your ‘inside voice’… at least, I never have… maybe I should! You don’t have to endure awkward conversations. You don’t have to freak out about what the other is thinking. Why? It doesn’t matter to siblings. We will love each other with a brotherly love come hell and high water, 1000 mile distances and arguments, or girlfriends and marriage. God let our brains develop to maturity in the same home for 15 years; what better bonding experience than that? And what adventures we had!
I remember climbing up to your ship bunk to ask you to play with me because the day before you promised me you would play with me “tomorrow”. You sleepily told me that it wasn’t tomorrow anymore, it was today. I asked you if it was tomorrow every morning until mom found out. You made a grumpy Mawy when I, Dofus, made you push Jesus in the baby carriage!
Do you remember looking for treasure in the field behind our house on the Big Island
The three kitchen stools in our house were never just seats in the kitchen. They were spaceships and props for tents. Sometimes all of us stood on them wearing sunglasses and cool outfits. Mom gave us hairbrushes for microphones, cranked Michael W. Smith, and, poof! We were super stars.
When we moved to Oahu there were even more good times. Neighborhood basketball games, football wars, hide-and-seek, lemonade stands, scooter races, bike crashes, army guy forts, rollerblade street-hockey, paper airplanes, and explorations down the creek (with practice flood drills from Bethany). While the neighbor kids were at public school *gasp*, we were doing more important things. From popsicle stick forts to life size boats in the yard, you and I built things together. It was a rough ordeal to scour the garage for every piece of cardboard, but it was worth the trouble when we sailed to the Americas
Rainy days didn’t curb our fun. We’d float Lego guys on bottle caps in the big puddle. When we got uncomfortably wet and cold, mom dried us on the porch and sent us to the showers. Clean and dry, I would sit in the sunroom and watch the rain drizzle down while I listened to you read Redwall. Sometimes we just talked about “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” or about girls and boys or about random stuff. Other times I’d watch you draw scenes with dolphins, helicopters, tanks, and pirates. Once you invented a game where we each drew six tanks on opposite sides of a paper. I can’t really remember, but I think we took turns folding the paper and coloring a small circle. We had to push really hard to make an indentation. Somehow the indentations were bullets from your tanks to mine and if an indentation covered a tank, that tank got erased.
You have invented games all your life, and I have been your guinea pig all my life. (Lately, I have had to step back to a part-time position due to the hundreds of miles between us. Though, Robert Burleson is an awesome person to fill the other part-time position for you.) The game we played with those toy cars (half the size of a matchbox car), a ruler, and the blocks dad made, was my favorite. When we weren't making games up, we played Chess, Stratego, and random card games. “ZNZSWN” was fun to play with you and Jon. We spent hours playing that video game with continents and armies. I liked to watch you play Age of Empires or Wesnoth. It was even more fun to play the board game, Age of Mythology, in the guest house with Jon and sometimes Ariel. I felt so grown-up when you let me hang out and listen to music with you guys (which was pretty often).
I could go on and on about all the adventures you and I have had, but that would make a super looong letter! You and I have changed in many ways since the morning you told me it wasn’t tomorrow anymore. But we still like teasing each other, exploring, wearing cool sunglasses and standing on stools, building things, talking, rainy days, music, Redwall, drawing, inventing games, playing games, and each other! I’m glad you’re my brother, Ricky.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love,
Didi
Us Two
By A.A. Milne
Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
“Where are you going today?” says Pooh:
“Well, that’s very odd ‘cos I was too.
Let’s go together,” says Pooh, says he.
“Let’s go together.” says Pooh
“What’s twice eleven?” I said to Pooh.
(“Twice what?” said Pooh to Me.)
“I think it ought to be twenty-two.”
“Just what I think myself,” said Pooh.
“It wasn’t an easy sum to do,
But that’s what it is,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what it is,” said Pooh.
“Let’s look for dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“Yes, let’s,” said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few–
“Yes, those are dragons all right,” said Pooh.
“As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That’s what they are,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what they are,” said Pooh.
“Let’s frighten the dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“That’s right,” said Pooh to Me.
“I’m not afraid,” I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted “Shoo!
Silly old dragons!” –and off they flew.
“I wasn’t afraid,” said Pooh, said he.
“I’m never afraid with you.”
So wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True,
It isn’t much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together,” says Pooh, says he.
“That’s how it is,” says Pooh.
