If Justin hadn’t been in my O-week group, if the two of us hadn’t become friends, then I might never have found my happily ever after. (I mean, just look at how snazzy I dressed in college!)

For the first three months as an undergrad at Rice (I was pretty clueless), I had no idea that Derek was Justin’s older brother. Of course now, I totally see the resemblance. But Justin sort of introduced him as, “Oh, by the way, this is Derek. Have you guys met?”

Justin and I had several things in common. We had similar taste in music, we enjoyed organizing socks, and we were both tinkerers and dreamers at heart. Perhaps most importantly, neither of us had any idea how good looking he was.

Several girls became my best buds freshman year… much to my disappointment, I quickly realized they were only my friends so that they could hang around Justin. Oh well, I basked in a brief spurt of popularity while it lasted.

Derek and Justin were a package deal in college. Justin kept inviting Derek to everything, and I got to know both of them really well.

I even got to go on Justin’s first date with Melissa. I mean, how many friends and sister-in-laws have that kind of privilege? By the way, I still remember Melissa’s awesome first date socks. They were stripy. She was also genuinely nice to me from the beginning, and became my real friend. We were both engineering girls.

Anyway, it’s pushing midnight and I’m rambling, but I wanted to post a short tribute to Uncle Justin on his birthday. Welcome to the 30 Club! We survived O-week. We can go through our mid-life crisis together in a few  years.

Sticker on your forehead, superstar!