my replacement brother

james and i met when we were 18, and despite his winsome personality, striking good looks, and reservoir of talents, he immediately fell into the "chum only and ever" category. being pals with james is a great way to go. he's easy to spend time with, is obnoxious and insincerely chauvinistic enough to help you reach your eye-rolling quota for the day, yet endearing enough to keep you around for a back scratch/gossip party/love life analysis and advisory council.

i saw him at tiffany's wedding right before my mission and thought, "welp, i'll never see him again!" i'm so pleased to be wrong. last night we went to todd's goodbye dinner together and i drove like a maniac and he'd bark at me to slow down, he'd burp loud enough to cause small tremors below our feet and i'd order him to say, "excuse me." we argue over who is the better looking person and are only half kidding (as in i'm the half that's kidding, he's the half that's not).

good old james. good to have him back, good to have a brother once more.