DEAR SEAN:
I want to write a love letter to my girlfriend, but I’m not good with words, so excuse the typos, there are probably all kinds in this message!
My Tori walked right into my life after my wife left and she's helped raise my two sons and one daughter like they were her own. She became a mother right off, my lifesaver, and she has always been more than just a girl to me. She’s my angel, I want her to know how much I love her. Oh, and we’re getting married.
Thanks for helping me in advance!
JASON
DEAR JASON AND TORI:
I have seen a hurricane up close.
I was younger, braver, and infinitely more stupid. My friend, Lawrence, and I parked at a beach. We walked toward the angry shore like a couple of young men with dangerously low IQ's. We watched white water churn in the Gulf.
The windblown sand stung my face and nearly ruined me eyes. I leaned headfirst into the wind and let the force lift my teenage body upward.
Like I said: stupid.
The gusts hoisted me an entire foot off the ground, throwing me backward.
I won’t lie, it felt exhilarating.
That day, the water screamed loud enough to cause deafness. It looked like the world was getting ripped apart.
My friend looked at me and shouted. He was only inches from me, but I couldn’t hear his voice. The roaring water made my eardrums throb.
The sand cut my friend’s cheeks and made blood streaks run across his face. The air became pure saltwater. And though we were standing close, we couldn’t see one another.
The pressure sucked air from my lungs.
Lawrence and I traded excitement for flat-out fear. We’d made a grave mistake. We'd been foolish enough to think we could survive a few minutes in Hell.
Only this was not simply Hell. This was…