Dear Jesse

Dear Jesse,

We began as Jesse, Susie, and Alison… until it wasn’t. Then it was about us.

But the time feels so long ago, that I can hardly remember the little details of our time together. Even though the time is gone, it feels like it lasted so long. It feels like I was with you longer than I have been with anyone else. So why can’t I remember?

What I remember is your slight musk, the curve your body made as you laid on your side. I think that curve was my favorite part of your body. Your skin was so smooth and I would marvel on how that curve connected your broad shoulders to your thin waist.

Even though you were so nice, so normal, it was you who first started opening my eyes to the broader world and I began to not take what was given to me at face value. Life could be different and interesting, but I needed to challenge naysayers that said I couldn’t do something and be strong and firm about it. Yet despite my growth, it seemed you remained idly stuck to the person you always were. How did you remain the same while I grew in a different direction? I suspect, however, that you were taking root more firmly in who you are and maybe I never gave you credit for that. After the us was over, I would visit you in your studio and was always surprised to find this funny, kind and genuine man blasting country music as he modeled automobiles.

It’s been a couple years after we’ve last talked. You were so surprised that I called you for your birthday the first year I moved out to New York. And you made me so proud of you for being who you were and facing post-collegiate life and a collapsed auto market with little job prospects with humor and integrity.

So, Jesse, thank you. And I hope you are doing well and perhaps by now, you’ve gotten your foot in the door in an automotive design position.

x.