Dear Alexa

Happy Birthday!!! Today is your 37th birthday, which means my 37th birthday is 20 days away! I miss you with every minuscule molecule of my being. I'm trying not to let my blubbering ways to get the best of me. You would want me to have a good day! It is a beautiful day, in fact. Very sunny. And I am quite well groomed today (relatively speaking) - you'd be proud of me. And your mom is coming to visit, and we're going to lunch, and we'll try not to cry, but we probably will. She is such an amazing woman. She continues to teach me so much about being a person in this crazy world.

Language is such a limiting tool at times like this. Words are like vessels that just aren't big enough to contain my meaning. Suffice to say, I wish you were here to see Buck. Well, you are here, but I wish I was sharing the time with you. But you already know that, I imagine.

I love you. But you already know that too.

xoxo ciya

Dear Everyone Else,
Today is Alexa's birthday. She's one of my bestest friends. She's been gone a little over two years now. I miss her. It hurts.