Dear Eleanor

Dear Eleanor,

You do not know me yet. I am a friend of your father. Well, I suppose you could call us friends. We are more aptly titled brothers. I am not sure when it began, but somewhere along the way he started calling me 'big bro' and I him 'little bro'. It was probably somewhere in between waking up in the dusty soil on the banks of a river in Colorado and sitting beside a campfire drinking whiskey in the mountains of Appalachia. In any case, we are good friends bound by rock and water, and have seen each other through some interesting times in our lives.

You are only two days old and know nothing of this world yet. It is a rather crazy place, full of ups, downs, and all arounds. Your father was fresh out of college when I first met him. I am almost five years his senior, and at the time, was in his eyes an 'old man' at the ripe age of twenty-five.

There are a few more characters that you might hear about one day. Strongarms, Warthog, and a man with a slick shootin' southern drawl named 'Captain Haddock'. We roamed around together like a band of modern day cowboys for a while before setting out into different seas. We all traveled the world, and between the lot of us covered a great span of cultures and continents. I stood toe to toe with a penguin in Antarctica once. Strongarms was robbed in a Bolivian hospital while having his appendix removed. We chased our fair share of ladies. Warthog once followed a girl to New Zealand, and Captain Haddock could not resist the allure of the setting sun. We were always up for a good adventure, and passed out next to more than our fair share of roaring fires beneath a canopy of stars.

This is the romanticized version of things; an important skill to have in an often acrimonious world. The truth is that things are tough out there, and it really helps to surround yourself with critically loyal friends and family. There is no two ways about it. You are going to fall down in life, but the old cliche holds true: it's how you pick yourself up and dust yourself off that matters most.

Life is full of change and ever shifting horizon lines. Rivers are a good place to go to learn about things like this, but if that does not suit your style, the world is full of wonders that will let you catch a glimpse of the deeper meaning of things. Just keep a smile on your face, a spring in your step, and an innocence in your eyes.

If you ever find yourself a bit confused and navigating some roads that seem like they may never end, pull off to the side. Take a deep breath. Gather some wood. Light a fire, and look to the sky. You'll figure it out after a while.

I hope this finds you well.

Here's to a celebrated life.

Brett and the rest of the gang