Sibling Revelry

I got this letter from Phil a while back and had to share it. (Reminder: He's currently serving his mission in the Dominican Republic.) Clearly, I have the best little brother in the whole wide world.

Dear Gretchen,
I'm chilling here in the hospital room right now because my comp has pneumonia. It's my last preparation day before I enter the field. Anyways, I decided that I would write you a good letter & recant some of my favorite memories with you. My first one comes from a long time ago. Back in Virginia, we had just bought this "How to Draw Rainforest Animals" book. We had this secret password in order to get in to each other's rooms which was "rainforest animals." Haha, good times. Do you remember your FatMan comics you used to make with your friends back in New Mexico? If we only had those now--how much entertainment that would give us. Do you remember how I used to say in a dumb voice, "My name's Gretchen and I live in a tree" and you would laugh every time? Imagine I'm doing that right now, because I am, and laugh.

"Wait...it's Christmas?!" Need I say more?

Do you remember when you would be playing the piano and I would start playing the low notes and claim I was harmonizing with you? One of my favorite memories of us is that time when we stayed up late at night bouncing awful pick-up lines off each other, both making them up as we went along. I remember one time I was super jealous of you at Christmastime b/c you got that sweet Lord of the Rings Mt. Mordor ring set. I remember when you finished Harry Potter 7 and you bawled. And I was baffled as to how a book could make you do that. But as I've talked with other girls I realize you're not the only one.

I remember the night before I began my senior you introduced me to Flight of The Conchords. We watched the pilot in your room and I loved it. My roommates & I quoted Mel frequently last year. I remember laughing at mom with you because she thought scrunchies were still in style because she found them at the dollar store all the time. I remember when we dropped you off at BYU-Idaho the first time and we ate at Hogi-Yogi/Teriyaki Stix in that strange dome building...and how sad I was to see you go. I remember staying up late watching Freaks and Geeks and busting a gut at the nerdy friend. {He means Neal Schweiber--he freaking loves Neal.} I sincerely hope you remember that part. I miss looking over your shoulder while you're on the computer. I miss humming Suicide Is Painless with you as we're watching a M*A*S*H episode. I loved going with you to that one Halloween movie. You'll have to tell me how it went this year.

I guess the point of my letter is to say that we've had some good memories together. I miss you and I hope you have a great 2 years until I get back. If life ever gets you down, remember this. You're 23 years old. The world is your oyster. Go out & change a life! To end my letter, I'll quote Joseph Smith. "Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren, and on, on to the victory!"

Love,
Your brother

P.S. You should feel pleased you got a letter. I've always said letter-writing is the second most sophisticated form of communication. Second only to mind-reading.