a birthday song:

I first knew about Ruth Alice Stokes eleven years ago, when I was seven years old. She was staying at the hotel where both my mother and my grandmother worked while her dad was settling things in Hannibal, Missouri as they prepared to move here from Canada. We were introduced by my Grandmother, in her desperate attempt to make friends for me. And at first, we clicked. Kind of.

When she officially moved to Hannibal, she lived exactly two houses down the road from my Grandma, a place where I spent a lot of my time. We weren’t the best of friends, but we spent a lot of time at her house, playing like eight year olds do. Often, we joke about a time when she spent the night at my house. The exact details of this escape me. But I do remember playing with my Barbie ferris wheel, and Ruth being amazed with my Tarzan straw that made noise when you used it.

Unfortunately, the two of us went to separate elementary schools, so we drifted apart. But then in seventh grade, we were reintroduced. Her locker was three down from mine (55 to my 52) and we quickly bonded over having P.E. first block, then followed by Advanced Math even though neither of us really enjoyed math. It wasn’t long after the first day of school that I started going to her house every day after school to do “Math Homework” (an activity that, in reality, was usually spent with her blasting the music that I now love, and us browsing Yahoo Messenger). Seventh Grade year was spent with how infamous inside jokes. Including (but not limited to): British Accent Day, long talks about fingernail polish, the Flamingo project, STEALING MY FUCKING COUGH DROPS, etc.

By the summer between seventh and eighth grade, we were inseperable. We did EVERYTHING together, including our job as tour guides at Rockcliffe Mansion. But, only two months into our eighth grade year, she moved 1000 miles away to Houston, Texas.

Since then, our friendship has been rocky. We’ve talked, fought, not spoken, and been reunited. No matter what, she’s my best friend. And when she comes back to Hannibal, it’s always as though our friendship was never interrupted.

And I guess what I’m trying to say here is,

HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY, RUTH ALICE STOKES. I LOVE YOU VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH, AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU IN EIGHTEEN DAYS. HERE’S TO MATCHING SUVS AND GROWING OLD TOGETHER. YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, AND CONGRATS ON BEING OFFICIALLY “HOT LEGAL ASS”