letter to my friend, from montreal

dallas, my esteemed friend and brother—warmest greetings and kindest wishes from myself, here in my yellow vans stepping on cigarette butts in plateau alleyways. montréal is cooler than i'd hoped but i still skip the jacket to show off my new aaron west t-shirt.

this city has in one evening accepted me like the last year just never happened. people at shul asked when i moved here. "i just arrived four hours ago, as it were," i tell them; "i haven't moved yet, though"—that's what i said.

boys suck. i'm glad you're marrying a woman. i quite badly wanted to catch my train out to bemidji last week. obviously it would not only be a little early for the ceremony but also there's still loose ends in ottawa. a lesson from this, though, is that there is no issue in physically running from emotions. especially if those emotions are places.

i thank G-d for you whenever you're brought to mind. i used to wish i had been made to be part of a different family. eventually i discovered that G-d did give me a better family—just that these were not my blood. took me long enough to realize.

i hope the midwestern june does right by you. good things are ahead. take care of yourself.