My Marine

Joseph Anthony Barbosa is the closest thing to family that a non-blood relative can be. He was not married into my family, but rather taken into our close-knit circle. After some deviant behavior between us two involving breaking and entering, trespassing, underage drinking, possession, and a plethora of other charges (these were "kindly" dropped), he was out of a home. We took him in, although my actual family was disappointed in our prior actions, they decided to take the high road and forgive us and take an even higher road and practically adopt Joey, as he is affectionately called.
Now Joey is Rct./Pvt. Barbosa, Joseph A., Plt. 2068, 2nd Bn, "E" Co. My best friend and brother is a jarhead, a leatherneck...and I say that with great admiration and respect. I respect any man or woman in an uniform, but because this is my brother, I hold no greater devotion to him for serving our country.
Sure, I've had plenty of friends go Air Force, Marine Corps, Army, Navy, or Coast Guard, none have ever been so close whereas I get letters. I've never felt so feminine before, opening a letter and tears coming to eyes about how he is getting his ass kicked, his addiction to nicotine suffering from deprivation, missing our former opiate addiction, how much he misses home, all of the personal nonsense.
I guess the only reason I'm writing this is because I have finally heard from him at USC, receiving three letters at once, which was kind of overwhelming. I miss my best friend, the kid I used to do everything with. I used to live with him, used to drink with him, snort illicit drugs with him, used to drive him everywhere, used to play video games with him. It is tough to go through college without him, but in the long run, it works out for the better. We've both kicked most of our devious priors such as yayo or theft, we've grown to accept other people (his fellow marines, my southern classmates), and we've grown in our fondness for his sacrifice. I can't wait until he graduates, only 18 more days then he's unleashed on USC.