u/miriadwords

My older brother, my hero, died October 18, 2025. I still don't know where to put so many of the feelings and I know grief/love is forever. So, art. I'm a poet, that's my medium, and I'm writing a lot, but I needed something entirely different. So I'm making my first ever junk journal and here is my first ever double-sided page. It's incredible, art. It's arranged intentionally but when I actually saw the reality of my brother looking down on me with his proud smile and the text, and that what I'm holding on my shoulder is his hand... I didn't expect the flood that hit me. I think he'd think it's neat.

Not the world's biggest project but it meant the world to her, and that's all that matters. Definitely worth a few of the fancy bandaids. Plus I got to use this bonkers type of sewing needle that I think is specifically perfect for stuffed animal stitches 🙂

Y'all ever run into something that is scientifically not genetics (or whatever, I'm not a scientist of any sort) but can't be explained in any other way? I grew up mostly with my mom and she has no clutter. My dad is more of a packrat and I did 100% inherit his brain via genetics (?) and we've always been closer despite physical distance. I've had some form of drawer full of pens since childhood (this is my adult version). When I was still a kid, my dad, mom, brother, and I were cleaning out one of his several storage units and I opened a desk drawer... All pens. I'd never seen it before, he'd never told me he also had a pen collection, I'd never seen someone else with a drawer full of pens. It was like discovering some hidden understanding about both of us. It was real life magic, even now that I'm 41.