Day 3

Philip,

We had dinner at Uncle Jeff's last night. Being surrounded by our family was nice, the love and longing for you was tangible. You were so loved by so many people, man. While we were there, I listened to our mom and her siblings tell stories from their childhood, and it broke my heart. No one could tell stories like me and you. We had some wild times, and though I'll never stop telling our stories, I will miss having you to turn to for the punch line. There are so many memories that I share only with you... watching Pokemon in the morning when we were supposed to be doing schoolwork, tearing apart action figures and gluing them back together freakishly, throwing a tennis ball to each other over Chloe's head and watching her flip out, catching turtles and salamanders and fish and bugs and snakes together, fighting off hoards of bumblebees with tennis rackets, gorging ourselves on candy from the concession stand at every swim meet... there are so many things that I can tell people about my life and yours, but you were the only one who was there with me through it all.

I'll love you forever, big brother.