Turning slightly on the bench, he cupped Doug's cheek. "Life may be what it is now, but life also changes. You just said it. We had the best and we are getting crap now. But, it can change again. We can find something different, something new. You told me not to fuck my dream up or you'd kick my ass. You're part of my dream, little brother. Do you know why I only ever managed to resent the attention you got from Mom and Dad a little bit? Because the one thing that's always managed to make me happy, even if only for a moment, is seeing you happy. I've always been ridiculously proud of the things you've accomplished. You are brilliant and capable and far more caring than most of the jackasses on the hill could ever hope to be -- a fact I should know since I've been with more than a few of them and been the moral target of the rest of them. And, I've sucked in the past at telling you any of this because I was stupid and careless and thought you neither wanted nor needed to hear it from me.
"But, I've come to realize that we both need each other. I'm crap at looking at things logically, planning ahead, keeping my feet on the ground long enough to get shit done. I need you to keep me grounded and sane. But, maybe what I've been blind to all these years is that you need me to help remind you to dream, remind you that nothing gets done without that first spark of an idea, an inspiration, a dream, whatever you want to call it. The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society." TJ smirked as he recited one of the few quotations from a politician he knew, trying to spark some light of the old camaraderie between them. "There were a few things I paid attention to in school. And, maybe we're not dealing with the American Society now. But, the sentiment still applies. You aspired to greatness and you would have been damned good at it. But, greatness doesn't come without dreaming and the only guarantee that you can never have it again is to give up on it all together."