Jordan,
I still remember being seventeen, sitting on the passenger side of your jeep and hearing you sing along to the radio for the first time. It was not quite in any key, and I started to smile. I’ll never forget thinking, “Phew, he’s not completely perfect.” You’re just so good at so many things, but singing has never been one of them. And I love that about you. It’s been ten years of us sitting side by side in all kinds of cars, each of us singing at the top of our lungs, and never really in any particular key. I’m pretty sure if Simon Cowell sat in our backseat, his ears might start bleeding right then and there. We’re both absolutely terrible. But we’re passionate! And we have so much fun together.
The only thing I love more than your off-key singing is your ability to make up lyrics and sing them confidently. The way you hear it is the way it must be, right? Michael Jackson isn’t singing about a Slave to the Rhythm, he’s clearly singing about a snake… through the river. Taylor Swift doesn’t have a long list of ex-lovers, she’s just singing to her “only Starbucks lover.” It’s my favorite part of singing with you. In fact, I told you how bad I wished T-Swift’s music was on Spotify, just so I could play Blank Space whenever the mood struck. I hadn’t bought a new CD since I was fourteen, but I mentioned I was actually considering it.
I’m writing this because in ten years together, we’ve spent more hours together than most people get to spend in a lifetime, and I just never want to take one second of it for granted, because every day is a gift. That’s what The Pink Slip Files are all about. It’s what they’ve always been about. Remembering. So that, like in Patch Adams when the grandmother gets to swim in her pool full of noodles, one day, a long time from now, when the sun sets on our adventure together here on this earth, we can hold on to each other for just a few more seconds, just a few more minutes, just a few more moments, and swim in our own pool of pink-papered memories, one last time. These are the little things I always want to remember.
Your (Only) Starbucks Lover,
Me
Want to catch up on The Pink Slip Files? You can read them all right here:
Intro: What Are the Pink Slip Files?
No. 1: Failing Pre-Marital Class & Otter DNA
No. 2: Sink or Swim
No. 3: Turning Off the Lights
No. 4: Leave a Message at the Tone
No. 5: Chocolates, Mystery Shows & Honeymooning
No. 6: Cutting Coupons & Wal-Mart Jeans
No. 7: Paper Chains of Memories
No. 8: Dancing on Bar Tops
No. 9: Man’s Best (Feline) Friend
No. 10: Confessions of a Waffle Fry
No. 11: What’s So Important About Shoelaces?
No. 12: Breaking Records… Like It’s 1924
No. 13: Why We’re Not as Classy as We Thought
No. 14: A Letter to My Only Starbucks Lover
No. 15: The Night We Killed Someone (Kind Of)
No. 16: Lord, It’s a Fire!
No. 17: 6 Words We Never Thought We’d Google
No. 18: How Jordan Convinced Amy… To Take Her Clothes Off. Every Time We Walk in the Door
