Playmate.

I remember the day you were born.

I was so excited to become a big sister.

When I first held you, I was terrified I

would drop you! I worried whether or

not I was I holding you correctly!

As I held you, I looked down at your

tiny, closed, baby eyes. I began to

wonder about your life and what you

would be like. What you would look

like. What our relationship would be like.

It was right then and there that I was

determined to be the best big sister. I

determined to become a close friend

and one who would be there for you no

matter what. I hope I have fulfilled that.

As you grew up, we spent hundreds of

hours playing together. There was never

a dull moment with you. We also never

fought or had many arguments. You loved

playing with me and I loved playing with you.

I remember all of your "phases."

The first phase, the baby one. This is

when you had your yellow and red pacifier

and you'd carry around that blue blankey.

Mom and dad were convinced you'd never

live without either in your hand. You called

the pacifier "nue-nue." During this stage

you called me sissy and your room was

overwhelmed with baby colors and toys.

The second phase was your toddler phase.

This is when you began to discover yourself.

Your bedroom also transitioned from the crib

to the big boy bunk bed! Eventually, your toys

began to mature too. You had that cool rug

in your room that had all kinds of roads on it.

You loved rolling your hot-wheels on it! Your

toddler stage included a bunch of blocks,

Lincoln logs, and plastic animal toys etc.

After your cute toddler stage then came your

"pre-tween" stage. This is when you developed

a love and talent for Legos. This is also when you

began to discover the part of yourself that enjoys

crashing things. You always got a thrill out of

breaking things haha! To this day, you still do

and I hope that never changes. Just be sure to

keep breaking things and not people because

you could get into trouble haha!

After your "pre-tween" stage then came your

teen stage. Over the years your bedroom,

much like you, matured and transitioned. Your

bedroom eventually climbed upstairs. You now

had the big boy room and bed. The queen bed!

Now, you will soon be entering a new phase,

the vacant one. In this stage, you will begin a

new, exciting chapter of your life. It is when

you will leave the only world you know

and go to college.

You and I have so many memories together.

We have been through a lot together. Some

tough memories, but most of our memories

are full of laughter, joy, adventure, and friendship.

I find myself replaying these memories in my head

like a film, over and over again. They make me smile.

I remember all those times when mom woke

me up so early to play with you. She'd call me

as early as 6:00 a.m. saying you wanted to play

with me. At first, I would be so annoyed haha.

She would wake me up with that cheap, loud

intercom we once had in all of our bedrooms!

I was never a morning person but I did not want

to disappoint you. Besides, how could I say

no to my best friend? Looking back, I am so

glad I always said yes.

We played so many different things together.

One of our favorite things to play was houses.

This was when we would start from scratch.

First, we each chose a home. You always chose

the bigger, better house. We then strategically

picked out our little families. We would dig in

your container full of hot wheels picking out a

mom, dad, then the kids.

Once our families were chosen we then

began to "shop" for our families. This is

when we utilized your other toys to serve

as our people's food, home decor, and

even house pets etc. We practically transformed

your room when we played houses. We

would even add grocery stores, gas stations,

school and red lights etc.

It was so fun to play houses together

because there were no limits. We always

combined our imaginations, allowing

creativity to take off. Our families' kids

were always best friends. We made them

have sleepovers, go on adventures, and

explore. To make things exciting, we even

would add some danger here and there.

For example, you'd love making it storm.

This gave you an excuse to knock down our

houses and flip the light switch in your room

rapidly on and off. (This gave the lightening

effect).

Something that makes me laugh now is the

fact our families were hot wheels and yet we

still provided them with a way to transport.

Even though they were cars, we used bigger

toy cars for them to drive/ride in haha.

My favorite thing to play with you was Narnia.

The big wooden chest in your room was the secret

passageway. This was the only way to get to Narnia

(my room). Once we put our toys in the chest, they

magically appeared in Narnia.

When we played Narnia, we first assembled every

stuffed we had. Then, we divided them up, making

two teams. One team were the bad guys and the

other were the good guys. We always used the

tougher and meaner looking stuffed animals to be

the bad ones. These were the Rottweiler, gorilla,

and leopard etc. The good guys were the horse,

racoon and dogs. Of course you and I always

chose to be a good guy.

Another thing you favored was rolling cars.

When we rolled cars, you set up those bright

orange, plastic tracks, connecting them all

throughout your room. Sometimes we would

connected them from my room to yours. We

took turn rolling all the cars to each other. You

always got a thrill by seeing how fast you could

push the cars. Occasionally, you'd push the

cars so hard they'd fly off the track and hit the

wall in the upstairs hallway. This would result

in mom and dad yelling at us. You and I

always looked at each other and quietly laughed.

As long as I can remember, you and I also

loved doing sleepovers. Even though we

lived in the same house, we took turns spending

the night in one another's rooms. In fact, this

is still something we do to this day. They just

look a little different now. Rather than me being

on your bottom bunk or you being squished

beside me in my bed with a barricade of pillows

between us, you now take my couch. Or I take

the guest room at mom and dad's.

We would stay up so late when we did

sleepovers. We were to busy laughing

than actually thinking to catch any Z's. We

made videos of one another. We used all

kinds of apps that altered both our appearance

and voices. I always loved hearing you laugh!

To this day, nobody can make me smile

or laugh the way you do.

Playing outside was another special adventure.

I used to pull you around in that bright, red

wagon. Which is now nothing but a rust bucket,

as if it were a "Rustees" straight out of the

movie Cars (your all time favorite movie)! You'd

lay on your stomach as I slowly pulled the wagon.

You alternated between different color chalks,

chalking up our driveway in lines and squiggles.

When I had my motor scooter, I loved giving

you rides. I felt like I was on top of the world

with that thing! You stood on the back, holding

on to me. Other times, we rebelliously tied our

winter sled to the back of my motor scooter

with a rope. I would go as fast as I could in

the backyard and cut sharp corners. I'd always

do the same route. I ended your ride by going

over a tree root that always served as a great

speed bump! It was the root that hid behind

the tree, hugging the corner of our porch.

God must've known how much we'd enjoy it.

Another activity we enjoyed was sending

mail to each other. Even though our rooms

were on the same floor and even though we

knew none of it would really be mailed out,

we did it anyways. You loved to get creative

and make news letters, weather forecasts,

and sleepover and movie invites.

You would often times intricate movie tickets

and surveys in my mail. You'd list movies like:

Emperor's New Groove, Flushed Away,

Chicken Little, Cars, and or Open Season. All

of these movies were our favorite and they still

are. You and I can quote pretty much any of

these movies. In fact, Open Season is where we

got our nicknames. You are the deer, Elliot, and

I am the bear Boog. We've called each other

those names for quite some time.

The movie surveys you made for me also had

a snack section, (the most important section).

It was either popcorn or ice cream. Sometimes

we picked both because we couldn't always

make up our mind!

I remember when you started to slowly lose

your baby curls. Then your hair color began to

change too. A lot like the seasons, your hair

grew lighter in the summer, from spending hours

together at the pool, and darker during the winter months.

As you have gotten older, your hair now

maintains a soft chestnut brown, complimenting

your warm brown eyes.

I remember when I was in college, how

I'd come to visit. I was so excited to begin

a new journey. However, I remember every

single time I visited home, when I left it

broke me. It saddened me to leave you,

mom, and dad behind. It mourned me

realizing I was going to miss a couple years

of your life. To this day there are still

sometimes I feel guilty for moving away

so far.

Anyways, the tables have turned now.

it is your turn to go out and explore the

vast world God has so generously given to us.

It has been a beautiful blessing to watch you

grow up. In fact, I'd dare say it is one of the

best things of my life. Not to only watch you

grow up and change, but to have such a

close friend always by my side.

I remember when I first began to notice

more meat on your legs, increase of heights,

and when your voice changed. At first, it was

so weird how deep your voice got, but now

it is the new normal. Besides, it only makes

watching older videos of you even more

precious.

In many ways, it seems as if you took a growth

pill and grew up overnight. You have changed

so much over the years. Some changes I admire,

and others not so much, but that is not up to me.

I will be eternally grateful for the trip we

took together to Colorado. It was so fun

to fly on a plane together and go visit family.

I did something on that trip I never told you.

As we were on the plane, as I searched the vast

blue sky, it dawned on me. In just a matter of

months I was going to lose you. As I studied

the beautiful sky, it reminded me of you. How

much you love to travel. Most of all, it reminded

me of how you want to become a pilot.

It was in this exact moment, I did something

for you. I quietly made a wish for you. It was more

like a prayer for your life. I prayed that you'd get

everything you've ever wanted in life. I prayed that

your life would be full of adventure, excitement,

and love. I prayed that you would be very successful

as you go off and study aviation. Most of all, I prayed

that you'd become the man God intends you to be.

I know not everyone in life gets everything

they want but I hope you at least accomplish

all of your dreams.

I am sure you already know this, but know

you will be missed terrible. I already miss

you deeply and you haven't even left yet. I

guess over the years I have become so used

to always having you around or at least being

home when I came back. Yet, I know this is

your time and you will make a thousand new

memories.

I am so proud of you. You have come far

and will do a lot in your life, I just know it.

I miss the younger you but we can't be a

Peter Pan right? Everyone has to grow up

at some point.

I am selfish because I do not want you to go.

Yet I know it is more selfish of me to hold

you back. So I must let you go. I am also selfish

because I know deep down, when I let you go,

the moment you leave, I will crumble. However

this is not fair to you. I am not sad about your

accomplishments, I am sad how the house will

be empty when I visit. I keep clinging to the

truth that this is a part of life. Not only a part of

life but that you will be okay. I also tell myself

that you deserve this and it is your turn because

I left too at once. I know we will remain in close

contact with one another. I know that no matter

what, you will forever be my best friend and I hope

to always be yours too.

I will always be back home, here awaiting

your return. Regardless of the distance,

if you ever need me, I am here. I can be there

like lightening before the storm. I look forward

to hear about all your new adventures, and

look forward to making new memories with

you in the future.

To conclude my lovely little speech,

please remember a few things. First,

keep God first and try to always do things

His way. Trust me, if you do otherwise, it

never ends well. Secondly, never let anyone

make you feel small or as if you cannot do

anything. Lastly, Boog is always thinking

about you and praying for your well-being.

This will be my farewell little brother.

I will miss you but will be beyond proud

of you.

Goodbye.