An Open Letter To Tomo And Emmie

Dear Tomo And Emmie,

You know that sometimes this place is just for me.

Vent, hype, shout, be still, think through things, and just be - in whatever way that is - and I was thinking to myself a few weeks ago that there's no reason it shouldn't include the two of you.

That it had to include the two of you.

And I wonder why it's taken me so long - because when all is said and done, if I'm writing about some of the things that really matter - that really make me think - that I truly draw passion and inspiration from - than I have to write this,

It just wouldn't be right if I didn't.

While I know I've been there. Given an ear when needed. A shoulder if necessary. In my own way helping each of you grow - because friendship, love, and everything in-between is reciprocal -

I can't help but think that I have been, and always will be, getting the better part of the deal.

One in the city, one a call away, one with that Scotts Irish Native mix but a Mountain Girl at heart, and the other my Viet girl, my Immigrant 2nd Gen - I'll never be able to truly say what each of you means - how your voice, your vision, the way you just go and never look back - take what's yours because you know you deserve it - those late nights, those long conversations, that honesty, that clarity that's each of you,

I really don't know what I did to get so lucky.

But I'm glad that I was,

That I've had a lover, a friend, an oracle in training, passion, truth, a reason, five feet of fury, South Carolina, Savannah, confessions, Thailand, Mexico City and Green Cabs, that place I call Chattaquaca somewhere in NY close to the Falls, late night texts from the WPB, Hooks Fish And Chicken, Scrabble, infectious laughter, Franklin Street, University Avenue, Elliot Park, how you always know when to find me even though you're never on time, fights that only made us understand each other more even though they were few and far between, and that room where you first told me about you in Boston, and those endless things that will always be no matter how many zip codes you travel through to get to the suburbs -

I don't really know how to say it other than that,

Other than what it is,

And I hope always will be.