Basic Training Letter #1

Nicki,

Hi Nicki! God, I hope you’re doing okay. I got your address from Brooke about 20 seconds ago! I apologize for the delay, but it took about 10 seconds to get out the paper and another 10 seconds to find a good pen! Inexcusable!

This is one crazy address you have there. It’s like you’re using every letter of the alphabet and every number in our decimal system.

I have a thousand questions I could ask you about your basic, but I will save those for the future – when you’re at your first station and we can chat online for hours. I look forward to getting to know you better Nicki.

I can only hope that you are doing well in basic, Nicki. I will pray for you every night. I promise.

A few days ago a song came on the radio that reminded me of you:

‘We’re going down, down in an earlier round
And Sugar, we’re going down swinging
I’ll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it‘

It’s funny how I seem to get more reminders about you during these last few weeks. I suppose it’s because I’ve been keeping your plight fresh in my mind all month.

Remember Nicki – we are suppose to ensure that we see each other again before January 1st, 2012. That may seem like a long time from now, but I assure you that 4 years can fly by. I miss you. I am curious to see just how much (or little) you’ll have changed by then. You’ll be… 24 years old! My age! And I’ll be… older! Hahaha. I’ll be 27 turning 28 in a few days.

Stay strong Nicki. I know you can handle it. I don’t drink much, but for you, tonight I’m getting smashed. Gin and Juice, Jack and Coke. And although you don’t like to hear it, I’m going to end this letter letting you know exactly how I feel.

I miss you and I love you,

~Bruce