A Sorta Love Letter

Today my best friend Brittany turns 24. As I was explaining to someone that birthdays aren't overrated because they are times of reflection and celebration of life, I began reflecting on Brittany's life to me. So I'm going to interrupt my regularly scheduled dork-filled, random thoughts to bring you a more personal and vulnerable letter to my bestest buddy.
Dear seester,
I wanted to take a moment, a pause of time if you will, and tell you one or a few things.
You and I are (if nothing else) alike in one way: we are WAY too hard on ourselves -- this is both a redeeming quality and a fault. A fault for obvious reasons: it can get us very down, it can sometimes be confused with insecurity, and (the worst) it can hold us back from our full potential. The better side of this is that is it makes us never satisfied -- we are always looking to improve ourselves, we are always motivated to be better, and we won't ever stop looking for opportunities or settle for "just OK." As Christopher Reeves once said, "either we let self doubt and feelings of inadequacy prevent us from realizing our potential, or embrace the fact that when we turn our attention away from ourselves, our potential is limitless.”
This, my dear, is what you are to me. Someone who has turned their attention away from themselves and always sacrificed for me. Someone that when I need someone to compare a guy to a stray dog -- you do not disappoint; someone who when I need reminding of my strengths but (not literally) can slap me and tell me I'm much better than how I'm handling a situation and I need to "man up and regroup" -- you got me. Or hell, if I'm feeling down and need a good laugh from someone who is just as dorky, but way funnier than I am --You shine like Charlie Sheen's drug habit. We can go weeks without talking and years without seeing each other and it never truly feels that way because (and yes I know how cheesy this sounds) are always with me -- and because you understand that that's life and overall - we are doing pretty damn good, Lady.
See, I called you "seester" in this letter because that is what you are to me - my family. Closer than that, even, because although many, many, MANY aspects of both of our lives have changed over the years, I know that you will still be the bitchy old lady that is the only person I can still tolerate when we are 80 in our pimped out wheel-chair drinking boxed wine on the wrap around porch of our nursing home -- and I can hardly wait! You are the Shirley to my Laverne.
I love you very, very much (no homo) and wish you the best on your birth anniversary, because that's what you deserve and so much more. Thank you for always being the rock in my life. I can't wait to see you again and I PROMISE...we will play Zelda this time. :)

Love, the coolest person ever, Lauren B.

On a side note to other reader who might be checking in on this letter....Brittany once again did my amazing blog design...and on a special note: that's an authentic drawing of hers on my header (which she rarely does anymore). You really do have to check out her website. Peace!