Oh Dad,

Mom just referred to herself as a single mother in a conversation with me. I hope I didn't bruise my jaw too badly when it hit the floor. YOSES.

You know what really pisses me off? That our days of cruising Park Point with the windows open and the Ray Man, that 'tard, spinning sweet oldies on the radio are over. I can talk Nic into doing any of those things we used to do together but it's going to suck with him. Do you think that means I shouldn't be marrying him? He's fun and all, but those informal fahja-neejer traditions are too special to be fun with anybody else. I think I'll just do that stuff with Red from now on. She gets it. It's still going to suck though.

Rob, my former neighbor, the one you thought was a dirty old guy, lost a very close friend in September and today he sent me a little story he'd written about his friend. Guess what it was about. LOST KEYS. Remember the night a few days after the funeral when you found my keys and put them on your shelf on the bookcase? The same kind of thing happened to him! What is the deal with you dead people and keys? I do enjoy those subtle little signs that you are watching over me. Actually, they may very well be signs that I'm losing my mind but I refuse to give much thought to that possibility. I'd much rather believe that you're hanging out with me...chilling on the couch, watching vh1's shit reality programming. I know it's no Weather Channel, but I figure you don't mind, because the weather doesn't mean a damn thing to you anymore. Besides, Mom says she's carrying on the Weather Channel part of your legacy, so you can watch it with her if you want.

As much as I love the thought of you hanging out with me, I kind of hope you were with Mike or Red on New Year's Eve. If not, I apologize for the performance I put on. That bottle of Boone's snuck up on me. I had no intention of puking in Nick's hair. I don't even LIKE puking.

Well shit, Mom just called to tell me that the blood center called for you today. Man alive, I knew that call would be coming soon but I had no idea how hard it would be to actually hear that it did. I want to scream "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!" through these tears, but that would just be redundant. Son of a bitch, Dad, I probably would have been getting a call this week from you asking if I wanted to do lunch or dinner.

I'm going to go stare at the picture of you in the woods now and imagine you taking Sam for a walk through the leaves in heaven.

Love,
Angie