It’s about how lucky I am that you came along on this trip.

And how thankful I am that we became friends.

And most of all, it’s about how I hope you’ll remember all the fun and funny and horrible and horrendous things that happened to the four of us along the way. Those are the things that make the memories from this trip something I want to remember and cherish forever.

(I can’t believe I just wrote the word “cherish” in a letter to you. I hope you don’t think that’s corny.)

So, when we both get old, and don’t remember things the way we wish we did, here’s a list of things that might help you remember this trip in all its triumph and tragedy:

• Television-theme-song car sing-alongs

• Turtles

• Alligators

• Swamp mud

• Glory Bound Baptist (and the cat burglar)

• Church donation bin outfits

• Team Road Trip shirts

• Camp Wonderful

• Bunk beds (and pushing Gram’s butt up the ladder of one)

• Friendly Fill-Up gas station (and the Restroom of Horror)

• 3XB (minus the barbecue)

• Kooky Karaoke Contest (“Last Train to Clarksville”)

• A friend named Sam

Team Road Trip rocks forever,

Sam

P.S. I’m glad you told me the truth about your wrist and about baseball. I hope when you get home, you’ll tell that truth to the people who really need to know. I have a feeling, even if they aren’t happy about it right away, they will be eventually. Sometimes people’s minds have a way of drastically changing even when we think there’s no chance they will.

Dear Gram,

I didn’t believe Mom when she told me this trip to visit you would be the “trip of a lifetime.” I’m not sure I’ve ever been so wrong about something.

There’s no way to put into words what this trip means to me right now and what I think it will mean to me for the rest of my life.

I hadn’t really wanted to come to Florida this summer. Not because I didn’t want to see you, but because I wasn’t all that excited about spending time at what I thought was going to be a senior citizens’ center. And when I found out about the road trip with Mimi and Brandon, I wondered how I’d survive.

But somewhere along the way, I’m not even sure when, the ups and downs of the trip started to change me. The time I was getting to spend with you and the arduous obstacles the four of us kept having to face as we chased your karaoke dream gave me experiences that I know I never want to forget.