Dear "JULIA"

No one knows this about me, but I meant to upload this open letter for...(Phil counts on fingers)...two years now. Although she is long gone now, I'm going to call her "JULIA" for the purpose of this post. I wrote this on paper years ago, typed it out, edited it as best I could recently, and decided to upload it anyway.

Dear "JULIA",

When we met you were a trainee at the local grocery store, and I was HUGE. In the checkout lane you gave me a cheerful "Hello", which was not what I expected as most of the clerks gave looks similar to this -_- and spoke like robots. I responded with "HI!", which did more than spook everyone within earshot ^_^ As time passed, our friendship grew to the point where we could exchange funny looks and other glances in the aisles of the grocery store, and we could talk for a bit when we weren't in the Express aisle. I enjoyed those times very much.

I'll never forget the time I showed up at the store BALD. You walked right beside me, and glanced at my head. I think your face looked like this o_O In hindsight, I realized nothing I have in my closet goes with BALD, so I doubt I will be BALD again. Nevertheless, your priceless reaction to my BALD look will remain in my memory. I remember each time you dyed your hair ^_^ You looked pretty, and in some instances I would also say, albeit under my breath, "more so" to your stinkin' attractiveness (Stinkin' attractiveness? What was I saying? o_O)

My biggest regret about our friendship was my obvious weight problem. During the time we met, my weight neared 272 pounds, and showed no signs of stopping. I was buying anything that tasted good, and almost never anything healthy much less green. You were alarmed at that, and regularly commented how I should try healthier stuff like fruit and veggies; however, I didn't pay attention to your advice. One time, I did buy plums, but that was just to get you off my back; I didn't mean to eat healthy at the time, but if it made you happy then I guess it wouldn't hurt.

Then, as time passed into 2007 (?), when I was 257 lbs., I stopped seeing you around. I was hesitant at first, but when I asked one of the newer clerks about you, she said you quit. Needless to say, I was crushed, and I didn't have a chance to say thank you and goodbye. What I miss most about you is your genuine concern for my health. With the challenge laid before me, and the support of friends and family, I decided to do something about it. I gave up McDonald's, public transportation, and even signedup/quit a gym to work out alone (long story -_-), but in four months of trying I shrank to 210 lbs.

I'm hovering around 200 pounds now, avoiding chowing down massive amounts of junk food in one sitting, eating properly, and getting exercise during the summer months. I also took to baseball (another long story); do you like baseball, too? However, there isn't a year that goes by when I don't think about how HUGE I was then, and how GREAT a friend you were to me. There aren't enough words to describe how much I miss your friendship, and how much I appreciate everything that you did for me. I hope the years are good to you out there, and I hope you found whatever you were looking for. I really do miss you, and while seeing you again would be AWESOME, I have faith you are doing great wherever you are. God bless you and keep you, "JULIA"; thank you for getting me started ^_^

Your friend, wherever you are,
Phil Wood