There’s a self-help classic called “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” I’m sure you’ve heard of it. I’ve never read it, but I imagine if I opened it up it’d be a biography of my older brother. If being charming was a job, TJ Kory could have been a billionaire by the age of 10. Sadly, being a lawyer for the US military doesn’t pay quite that much, but it does utilize his skill set quite well—a winning smile and always having the last word are key aspects of TJ Kory’s being. My older brother has always been great at making lifelong friends and curating a somehow both universal and niche taste in music, movies, tv, and hobbies that means he can talk to anyone about any topic for any amount of time. Fortunately, as an older brother, he has also always been great at passing all of these things down to me, meaning I have always had a built in group of friends and database of entertainment ready at my disposal. I’ve always joked (sure…it’s a joke…) that one day TJ would be rich and famous and I would be sleeping on his couch. I did, in fact, sleep on his couch for a while when I had a job in Chicago but no apartment yet. What a blessing it is that I’ve never once questioned that there will always be a place for me at my older brother’s house, whether he lives in a beautiful seaside townhouse, a tiny one bedroom condo with one big ol’ futon, or a four-bedroom apartment with all bedrooms already occupied.
TJ Kory apparently “doesn’t really like cake” and thinks it’s a “lower tier dessert,” so to appease his sensitive tastes I made him a mixed berry pie topped with a brown sugar crumble.
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