Letter #102 - Rachel

The very first time I encountered someone who shared my name I was upset.  I was in the first grade and had never met another Rachel, so I guess it had just never dawned on me that it was possible for more than one person to have the same first name.  My kindergarten teacher was named Rachelle, but that was a different name in my mind.  I'm not sure why it bugged me, but it did.  (She and I became best friends that year and are still in touch to this day, by the way).

Fast forward several years to an incredible opportunity where I got to attend a church youth camp in Tahiti.  On that trip I met another Rachel, only this time there was no annoyance over the shared name.  We like each other immediately and within a day, other campers were referring to us as "Rachel Squared".  After the camp, Rachel and I kept in touch for awhile but then drifted, as often happens.

Fast forward several years to my parents informing me that we had houseguests for the week.  A new missionary was moving to Detroit and would be staying with us along with his fiance' while they searched for a place to live.  Imagine my surprise when I walked in to introduce myself and came face to face with my square!  It was wonderful to reconnect, and we grew to be friends as couples as well.  My (then boyfriend) and I atteneded their wedding, and they attended ours.  Rachel recently moved back to Florida with her family, which made me sad because she had become a part of my circle of friends, and our husbands had grown close as well.  I miss having them over and watching their son grow up.

Rachel is an incredible leader.  She has a passion for Christ and is a true missionary, but she is also unshakable.  She ministered side by side with her husband in urban Detroit, she dealt with rowdy college kids, and I have witnessed her leadership in many capacities, including motherhood.  She has a calming effect on me, something I try to recall when I am feeling stressed out and under qualified.  Her strength and confidence are an incredible example to me.  I miss my square, a little more because we're not so great at keeping in touch, so I hope my letter brings a smile to her face, and that I hear something back from her.  Even just a hello would brighten my day :o)

Letter #101 - Dave

I grew up with a very interesting life.  The child of educators, ministers, and a natural hostess... my life has always been full of people.  Making new friends, greeting old friends, hosting families and strangers, being hosted by families and strangers... it's no wonder I don't do well with too much alone time! :o)

When I was four years old, my father became an appointee, which is our church's term for clergy, or full-time minister.  during his 10 month training process, he became friends with his fellow classmates, and all of our families developed a bond that I draw on to this day for strength and support.

Recently, I was reminded of a family vactation where a number of these families rented a place and spent a few days together out in the woods.  I was pretty young, and have relatively few memories of the time there, but I can vividly remember the emotions.  The feeling that I was completely safe with all of these people, and that they all loved me.

Dave was one of the guys on the vacation.  He and his family goofed off with us and hiked through the woods with us and told stories and laughed with us.  Dave has a great laugh.  Even as he has gotten older and become more serious (in part, a product of his latest position in our church), his laughter is something I treasure.  I wrote Dave mostly just to say hi, and to share the memory of that trip with him.  I hope it brings a smile to his face as he recalls some of the  shennanigans that took place that weekend... including the "ceremonial offering" presented to my family in my dad & brother's burned out sneakers...

I may not keep in close touch with Dave, or any of the other people in those families... but we all went through a very intense family experience together, and that has created friendships that have outlasted many things in my life.  These people also provide me with a strength I find I can access just by recalling those times we were all sharing space, and sharing love and laughter.  I will always be an appointee kid, and that makes me a part of a very special family.

Gaps

For those of you who actually follow this, you've surely noticed that the year is closing in and I've only posted 100 of my 365 letters.  You'll be pleased to know (or won't care at all) that I have still been writing, but my blogging has taken a backseat to life.  I will be posting some more letter experiences soon, but thought I'd explain my absence a bit by saying I'm fine, it's just been a crazy few months... writing for me comes and goes in waves, and lately it's been all I can do to write the actual letters... also posting a blog on each one has just added to the stress, so I've allowed it to sit and wait for a time when I can enjoy sharing with you again.

Hang in there :o)

Letter #100 - Angie

100 is such a landmark number.  TV shows celebrate their 100th episode, turning 100 warrants being featured on the local news, we base percentages on 100... 100 is noteworthy.

So is Angie.  I didn't intentionally select a person to be letter #100, but that doesn't make Angie any less important.  I find her fascinating in fact... mostly because Angie is one of those people who I am not necessarily close to, and yet I feel a strong connection to her.  I run into her maybe twice a year at various events, I hear from her now and then on facebook... her number is not in my cell phone and we do not hang out.  We don't particularly interact with each others' lives with any sense of deliberateness, and yet when she crosses my mind, I'm drawn to her personality.

I wrote to Angie because she had shown up a few times recently in my newsfeed on facebook, and I decided she could use a good old fashioned letter.  We've been meaning to connect for a year now on a potential photography project for me, and it just keeps slipping through the cracks.  I wanted to reach out to her in a non-traditional way (isn't it crazy how a letter is actually pretty non-traditional now in the US?) and just say hi.

I hope she enjoys the letter, I hope it makes her feel good and cared about, because even though we may not be close, I find that I care very much about her, and hope all good things for her in her life.

Letter #99 - Kerstin

I often marvel at how relationships work.  They come, they go, they strengthen and weaken... Kerstin is a friend who has ridden those waves in my life.  Our friendship has been stronger at times and weaker at others, yet we still stay connected, albeit indirectly at times.

Current events called Kerstin to mind when news of the shootings in Norway hit my twitter feed.  Kerstin and her family live in Oslo and I immediately prayed for their safety.  I'm happy to report they were unharmed, but it made me wonder about what causes us to drift so much as people, since I hadn't thought much of her in a year or more.  I realised I don't know anything about her family anymore, or even what she is doing for work, if anything.  I don't know what her husband does, I don't know how often they get to see her family in Germany, I don't know how old her kids are... and while I don't necessarily feel guilty for that (she doesn't know much about my life these days either), it urged me to write her and reconnect.

I have no idea if I will hear anything from her or not, I remember Kerstin was always much more of an in-person type, but we'll see.  If nothing else, I know I made an effort to reconnect with someone I consider a friend, no matter how far we may have drifted.

Letter #98 - Barbara

I have had the great blessing of living a life full of strong women to serve as role models and mentors to me.  I've mentioned some of them on this blog before, and today I'm writing about another one.  I recently picked up my notecards and pen again and wrote out a few letters... admittedly I'm not as far along on this project as I would have liked, so I'm going to need to step it up a bit... but I wrote out a few in a moment of sheer loneliness.  Having been unemployed for nearly 2 years, I spent a lot of time at home.  I wrote out a letter to Barbara sharing with her about my life and how much I miss living near her.  I also shared about my job search, which pleasantly came to an end the week after I sent her letter off, so now I'll have to send her a new one to fill her in on my good news!

Barbara recognised the writer in me at a young age.  When I was about 5 or 6 she gave me my first journal.  Little did I know how important that would become to me.  That specific journal may not have had every page filled, but I now own about a dozen other journals that do.  I am not a regular journaler.  In fact I find that I write the most when I am going through difficult times.  Writing seems to be a way for me to focus my thoughts and clear my head.  It's an excellent release for me at times.  In the process of getting married and moving out of my parents home I came across my stack of journals again and began reading through some of them.  It was amazing to me how vividly the events I described in their pages came flooding back to me as I read.

I have recently come to think of myself as a collector of memories.  I collect all kinds of momentos of people, places, events... and a large reason for that is my background.  I moved all the time as a kid and teen, and I think it played into my almost obsessive need to commemorate things.  As I grow older I try to detach myself more from the "stuff" and work on the memories themselves.  Stuff goes away after time, and memories hopefully stay for much longer.  Barbara helped give me a tool to hold onto those memories.

I am grateful for her influence on my life, and for her immensely beautiful smile and spirit.  I treasure her friendship and pray I'll be able to see her again soon!

Letter #97 - Diane

Diane was my stand-in mom when I was doing my undergrad.  When I graduated, I really meant to keep in better touch with her, but between our lives and schedules, we've drifted some.  I still love her a lot, and look forward to opportunities to catch up with her, but it's not often we get to do that, and often times when we catch up I find we're both referencing people, places and things that the other has no context for.

I've struggled a little in my own mind with the changes in our relationship.  At first I took it a little personally, we had been so close while I was there, and when I moved home it wasn't long before I wasn't getting checked in on anymore.  I slowly began to understand that it wasn't anything personal, it was just that she had new students to focus on.

I'm sure Diane will be glad to hear from me, but I have no idea if I will get anything back.  I just hope it brightens her day.