I’ve never heard of a relationship between two people meeting at a bar working out either. Usually those are just hookups.

You gave me a mental picture I shouldn’t be having about a fifty-something-year-old woman whose daughter is my friend. Thanks.

I can’t believe you let your sister walk around with her underwear for everybody to see. That’s shady… but I like it. :] Remind me never to prank you.

I’m still friends with people who have done me wrong because I know they’re sorry. Doesn’t mean I have to trust them as much as I used to.

Telling you about what a douche I was made me stay up thinking about it. I’m tempted to reach out to my exes and apologize for being a prick. What do you think? I’m really not that person anymore.

He did your homework for you but still led you on. Not convinced. Seems like he felt guilty. He sounds like a dick.

I laughed out loud at your “I’m going to die alone.” You aren’t going to die alone. What if you went to church and found someone there?

I get where you’re coming from with your whole “you don’t know unless you try thing,” but I guess I’ve always known that if I ever got lonely once I’m out of the army, I’d just get a dog. I’ve seen what a divorce will do to a person and I don’t really ever want to put myself into that position.

It was the birthday of one of my soldiers, so we let him choose the pup’s name. That was the best he came up with. I didn’t realize how much you get from a dog until lately… how much joy they give you. The unconditional love… you can’t get it from anywhere. Overall, everyone’s mood has improved since Ax showed up. I’m not exaggerating. We still haven’t gotten all the fleas off her, but I’m sure when we do, she’ll be napping on someone’s cot.

We didn’t do much here for Christmas. Some guys hung up Christmas lights a few weeks ago, but that’s all. My commanding officer gave some of us each a cigar. I’ll be saving mine for a special day.

I didn’t think about how strict her diet has to be. Hope she gets back on her feet. Nobody wins all the time.

They just let me know I can take my midtour leave in February. I’m heading to Louisiana for two weeks to see my family and friends. I miss plumbing.

In case I don’t message you before, happy New Year.

-Aaron

From: [email protected]

Date: December 29, 2008 3:05 a.m.

To: [email protected]

Subject: Hi

I just had this feeling that you weren’t short. I don’t know how to explain it.

There aren’t that many people on Facebook, so you aren’t missing out on anything. When I first signed up, it was only for college kids.

I hope you love Darkness. It’s one of my favorite books of all time.

Every bad decision my friends have made has been with guys they met at bars. If I wanted to make a bad decision, I’d go to the grocery store on an empty stomach.

You had a mental picture of my mom? Now I have a mental picture again. Let me go throw up one more time, thank you.

I’m a lot of things, but I take my pranks seriously. :)

I’ll drop the questions about untrustworthy friends for now but I will tell you that I’m a very trustworthy person. I’ve never done anything mean or bad to my friends before. :)

I’m not judging you too bad for being a cheater when you were younger. Contact them if you want, or don’t. If you hadn’t changed, I’d tell you to do it, but it’s up to you. I don’t know what to tell you. This goes beyond my expertise.

Listen to me. Trust me. It was my fault for how things worked out between me and that guy.

Meet a guy at church? Did you really suggest that?

I can’t fault your logic with getting a dog if you get lonely. When has a dog ever broken someone’s heart? But… never mind. I’m not going to try and tell you, you should get married one day if you don’t want to. You know what you’re doing and what you want. I have a single aunt who’s supposedly never been in a relationship and her life is awesome. Like you said, half of marriages end in divorce. I know how bad my mom’s taken some of hers. It sucks. Do whatever makes you happy. You can love someone and not marry them. It’s the same thing. At least it should be.

Dogs really are the best. One day I’ll have one. My mom is allergic. I’m glad all you guys are being cheery with Ax around. It would take forever but I could send you flea shampoo. Tell me.

Do you smoke?

Christmas was great. Luckily in the custody paperwork, my niece’s mom is the one who gets to spend Christmas with her every year so she didn’t witness our show. No pot brownies, but my older sister made jello shots, which then led to the liquor cabinet getting opened and we all got hammered, even my little sister. Everyone had to spend the night. I woke up passed out on the recliner and there were people on the floor and the couch. I found my brother asleep on the stairs. Attaching a picture because it’s too funny not to share.