Dear Tyler Joy,
First of all, happy birthday. You turn 20 this year. Unless you got us killed, that is. Try not to do that, alright? In case you've forgotten about this, I am writing this letter for Mrs. Fabig's social psychology class at the end of my senior year of high school. You know, that year where the whole world was shut down for, like, six months? We missed the last quarter of senior year, prom, graduation, a trip to Europe, and a bunch of other, less important stuff. That same year, I went under the knife for that surgery we needed in order to join the Navy. How's that going, by the way? By now, you should be in nuclear school in South Carolina. At least, that's what I hope. Anyways, I'm writing this letter to make sure that you don't forget about all of the good times we had in high school. First and foremost, my friends. Alex, Joey, Scott, Alec, Ethan, Willow, Jeff, Dylan, Annabella, Cynthia, Haley, Parrott, I really hope that you are still in contact with them. I hope that you've got some new friends of your own, too. You need to be more social, because we both know that I'm not going to do it. Secondly, I want you to remember some of my favorite teachers. Mrs. Fabig, who taught psychology. Mrs. Deblassie, the science teacher. Mr. Libretti, math. Dr. Culp, advanced math. Mrs. Michaud, English. All of these people who helped me grow and learn, who taught me the skills I needed to grow into who you are. Lastly, I want to remind you of the promises I made to myself and why I made them. The promise to stay single, because I can't hurt anyone that way. The promise to not let anyone in, because I disappoint less people that way. The promise to take care of everyone around me, because they are more important than me. The promise to be ever loyal to my friends and family, because they are the most important people in my world. The promise to do absolutely anything to keep them out of harm's way, because it doesn't matter if I get hurt. Above all else, the promise to never break a promise, because my word is the only thing that I have that's worth anything. If you take nothing else away from this letter, remember to always stand by your friends and family, no matter what.
Sincerely, Tyler Joy