31.

(TW: Aging?)

          It is midnight, and you know what that means, don’t you?

          I am SCREAMING Happy Birthday at the top of my lungs to my favorite person in the whole world!  The person who I can count on to be there for me through anything.  The person who I can always count on to be there for me, singing along to Spotify as we make breakfast, lunch, dinner, or whatever in the kitchen.  My, “what does this need?” person, and always knowing you’ll respond by telling me “Oregano” just like Grandma would.  Always adding more vanilla, and just a touch of cinnamon to baking, despite it not being in the recipe.  My garden gnome because, I couldn’t have done Grandma’s Garden without you this year- despite what happened to the zucchini because of those damned beetles.

          I can always trust you to be up for everything, anything, and all things in between.  Whether it’s telling you we’re randomly going to pick up something off free-group, I want to go for a car ride, or trash panda on a Monday night.  You’re the reason why I get up in the mornings- chances are it’s because Bear’s kicked one of us, Luna’s jumped up on the bed, you’ve tried to leave the bed, or you’ve stepped wrong and the squeaky stair has gotten my attention but, still.

          How the hell are you 31?

          Don’t you realize that by you getting old, that means we are getting old?  And if you haven’t noticed, my body sucks already, and I can’t afford to get (or feel) old!  These past couple of years have been a lot but, we’ve made it through together, and I know we’ll keep making it through as long as we stick together.  How else could we have made it through the past 20 years as best friends?

          You know, it’s funny… when we were younger, I used to think that someday, we’d graduate college together, and when we were in our 20’s, you and I would be sharing a shitty rundown apartment as we went to college together.  You were going to be the maid of honor at my wedding, and the crazy auntie to my kids.  Yet, somehow, fate had other plans, I guess.  Because here we are at 29, and 31, and our lives could not have been more different than what I’d originally expected.

          You moved away, and I stayed in the same place.  I got sick, and for a while there, I thought we’d never see each other again.  We kept in contact through the internet, and when I was going through the hardest days of my life, you were my lifeline.  I told you I wanted to write stories, and you pushed me to chase my dreams and follow my passions.  -you still tell me quite often that you still want a book, and I tell you right back, “so do I.”  But that’s okay because I’m still waiting for you to become a therapist, a teacher, a doctor, a writer, an artist, and someone who creates anime.  -I know I’m forgetting a few, you said at one point that you wanted to be just about everything when talking about the future and careers.

          You’ve been there for me through every heartbreak, from cheating ex-boyfriends to narcissistic sociopaths, and a couple wrong place, wrong time’s.  So, while there may not be any husbands, weddings, or knights in shining armor, I am beyond happy to have a house, a garden, 2 dogs, a kingsnake, a hedgehog, a sugar glider, and a couple of rats.  I don’t need a knight in shining armor, I have a garden gnome wielding a sharp pair of Fiskars Garden sheers, and I think that is more than good enough.

          I cannot wait for tonight when I make you ribs, Mom’s holiday mashed potatoes, green beans that you and I grew from the garden, and spend the evening watching The Boys with Pip and, more than likely being begged at by the doggies.  Thank you for all you do for me, I love you dearly, and thank you for another wonderful year together.  You’re more than my best friend, you are my other half, the yin to the yang, and the pink, bubbly uwu Hello Kitty girl, to my Dungeons and Dragons, goth bitch.

          All my love,

          -Sky