BOY FRIENDS
“Happy. Just in my swimshorts, barefooted, wild-haired, in the red fire dark, singing, spitting, jumping, running. That’s the way to live.”
Dear Hadley,
My first best friend was a boy. His name was Nicholas and I met him in Kindergarten. He was very good at the monkey bars and so was I and so we became friends. Nicholas and I rode bikes and built forts in the woods and went to the water park and had sleepovers. He taught me how to make a slingshot.
You’re still little right now, but when I watch you play, I already notice you jump right in with the boys. You’re tough and fearless and I wonder if your first best friend might be a boy, too.
One thing about boy friends that I’ve learned is that they're necessary.
Another thing is that the older you get, the harder they are to have.
I’m glad I had a lot of them when I was young. Because boys never cared about how dirty they got or what their hair looked like. And they never worried about scraped elbows or skinned knees. I think boy friends will be good for you because they’ll remind you to play hard and get grass stains on your jeans.
Never worry about grass stains.
I love you, little one.
Aunt Liz
