Brandon.

So I'm in the middle of this so-far-great book called Sundays at Tiffany's. In it, the main character Jane has an imaginary friend named Michael. Michael leaves Jane when she has her 9th birthday, as all imaginary friends are required to do. However, somehow, Jane never forgets him (which is ALWAYS supposed to happen) and she meets him again, 23 years later as an adult, while he is in between "assignments." Anyway, reading this book reminded me of the only imaginary friend that any of my children ever had, Brandon.

When Sis was about 4 years old, she started talking about Brandon. With her penchant for naming things (she once named a child sized fold out chair Princess and talked to it all the way through Wal-Mart and she still has a baby blanket named Roger), I didn't think too much of her talk of Brandon. But, as time went by, Sis and Brandon became "more than friends." In fact, she started introducing him as her boyfriend! We began to ask questions about Brandon and my fondest memories of him are recalling his characteristics, as described by a 4 year old: 21 years old, in kindergarten, yellow hair, blue eyes, drove a black sports car and lived in the drain of our bathtub. Yes, that's right. My daughter's first boyfriend lived down the drain... is that the 4 year old equivalent of a van down by the river? In fact, she became so adamant about his housing, that when she finished her baths each night, we'd have to leave the water in the tub until she went to sleep out of her hysterical fear that we'd drown Brandon if we drained the tub.

I don't know what happened to Brandon. It must not have been too traumatic of a break up because she just kind of stopped talking about him and enjoys laughing about it now. Her creative spirit still shows through in her outfit choices, naming of all belongings and belief in a magical bearded elf who bring presents once a year. It's just another example of what I love about my kids - they give me some of the best memories I've ever had!!