Letter to my Best Friend

Now I know that some of you out there may think you have some idea of who this letter is to.  And I could go down the list of people that are in the best friend category of my life which there are a few and most of you out there probably still couldn't guess who I am writing this letter to.  But tonight 875 miles away from home in a hotel room that overlooks a mountain in Flagstaff, Arizona I want to write this thank you letter to some who without this trip "Quest with Chris Ponder" would not be possible.  That person of course is my sister Tiffany Jackson-Ponder.

That's right folks my sister is one of the black women with a hyphenated last name.  And man does she pull it off.  This is a letter to you sis, thanks for everything.

Dearest Tiffany,

   I guess the best way to start this off is just to say, thank you for being you, because without you I wouldn't be me.  Thank you for all the torture you put me through the beginning part of my life.  Chasing me around with kitchen knives scaring the shit out of me, hitting me in the head with all my hot wheels I left laying out on the floor and especially wrestling me down when I still wasn't strong enough to take you and slowly spitting loogies on me. And just genuinely not liking me when I thought it was all just a game. 

   Thank you for baring the burden of our parents divorce because I was that goofy kid that played star wars over and over in his head and to be completely honest I really had no idea what was going on other than the fact that Dad is going to live with Grandmother and Grandfather now. Thank you for letting me tag along on your dates and just be the annoying little brother that had to have seemed to be right out of an early 90's family sitcom.

   Thank you so much for getting older and actually starting to like me around the time I was going through my super awkward teenage phase.  And always trying to help me pick out close that were cool and in fashion because god only knows where I would be had I made all of those decisions myself.

   Thank you for supporting me and being on of my biggest cheerleaders in my flash in the pan baseball career and dragging mom along with you to some of my games because you knew how much it meant to me even if I never said anything about it.

   Thank you for having the intelligence, drive and work ethic to go after your dreams and just be that positive influence for me to look up to always.  And for letting me run up such a large amount of debt on your credit cards for no reason other than the fact that you are my big sister and I am your little brother. And thank you for letting me move out with you to Virginia and be your roommate for six months and showing me that the world is so much bigger than I could even imagine and that with hard work and determination everything you want is out there for the taking.

   Thank you for showing me just exactly how to sneak into a movie, and how to know take shit from anyone.  How to know what you want and go out and get it.  And the value of customer service.  Thank you for fighting with me and never taking my sarcasm to heart and for training me to remember at least one person's birthday.  thank you for everything you have done for me and all the stuff I know you will do.  I love you so much sister and I can't wait to make you proud.

Respectfully, 
Brandon "Bubba" Ponder