Letters to Hadley: Boy Friends

"Happy. Just in my swimshorts, barefooted, wild-haired, in the red fire dark, singing, spitting, jumping, running. That's the way to live." -Jack Kerouac

Dear Hadley,

My first best friend was a boy. His name was Nicholas, and I met him in Kindergarten. He was very good at the monkey bars and so was I, and so we became friends. Nicholas and I rode bikes and built forts in the woods and went to the water park and had sleepovers. He taught me how to make a slingshot.

You're still little right now, but when I watch you play, I already notice you jump right in with the boys. You're tough and fearless and I wonder if your first best friend might be a boy, too.

One thing about boy friends that I've learned is that they're necessary.

Another thing is that the older you get, the harder they are to have.

I'm glad I had a lot of them when I was young. Because boys never cared about how dirty they got or what their hair looked like. And they never worried about small and everyday things like scraped elbows or skinned knees. I think boy friends will be good for you because they'll remind you to play hard and get grass stains on your jeans.

You should never worry about grass stains.

I love you, little one.

Aunt Liz

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