This is Fruitycake The Raccoon. I learn so much from watching my brother Brickle. I’m not sure if I could have made it this far without him. In just a few months, I have went from being scared and surviving to living and thriving.

It’s not that Brickle doesn’t slip though sometimes. But I learn from that too. In fact, I learn the most from that.

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Yesterday, we were taking our first hike together in this New York place. We didn’t get to do too much the first day because it rained so much.

So it was nice to get outside.

And on our hike, we came across this pretty tower. A tower made of stone with stone steps. Brickle told me he loves to climb. And I can imagine how fast he must have climbed when he was younger. But even though his pace has slowed, he still climbs.

We were all on the top of the steps of the tower when Brickle had his last step and he slipped. He lost all of his confidence. I could tell that. He wanted to turn back around. But Boy Person and Girl Person told him it was ok he slipped. They told him not to give up. They told him he could rest and take that last step. And although he hesitated, he knew he had to do it. For himself. And he did.

Do you ever feel like you work and work on a problem? You keep climbing and you’re tired. You think you’ll never get over your problem. You get almost there and you slip.

And you turn around. You give up and you have to start over. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had that last step.

But when you slip, even if you’re almost there, you still can make it. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Your time to overcome that problem is now. I feel it. I know you can do it.

Because if Brickle has taught me anything, it’s that we are all as strong as we make up our minds to be. And we can do it.

We can do anything. Especially, especially, we can climb that last step.

–Fruitycake The Raccoon