What I remember about my sister’s birth is that my mother went away to some place where she dressed in a nightgown and stayed in a room with some giraffe – whether the giraffe was printed on the wall, painted on a strange pink-colored, cage-like holder, or a stuffed animal, I never could remember.

Now, twenty-seven years later today, I am far away from the sister that has been alternatively called Peepoe, Petushka Cleopatra Banjo, Sexi Lexi, and now, my best friend.

So I wanted to wish her an especially happy birthday from far far away, and I decided that the boys assigned to protect the president’s residence (my new neighbor as I’ve just moved up to Hill Station after leaving my job and striking out on my own) might be of some use. However, the military police had a little trouble taking direction, so I had to turn to the kids who live in the burned-out shell of a building next door to the checkpoint. They were easier models to work with and more fun as well.

Lex: How cute is the littlest girl, your stand-in, with that insistent funny-face which is entirely her own? I wish you the best, and more importantly, happiness, which I’m discovering can come in the strangest of places, and on which I’m sure we’ll both someday have a firmer grasp.

So much love you don’t even know it, can’t even fathom how it feels,

Ness