Letter #88 - Jenn

I often find myself reflecting on where relationships I am in, or have had came from.  How they developed into what they are now.  Jenn is one of those friends that I can trace the timeline of our friendship, but I can't ever quite trace the way in which our friendship deepened the way it did.  Jenn is one of those friends that just simply is, and I love her dearly for it.  Jenn has been on my mind quite a bit lately as she has been a great source of support for me these last several months, so I decided to send her a letter to tell her how much I love her and how glad I am to have her as a friend.

Jenn and I technically met when we were both still in high school, as we attended the same Senior High Church Camp, but we didn't really hang with the same circles, and she was a few years ahead of me and headed off to college.  Our lives crossed paths again a few years later when I myself started college and there was Jenn.  We both attended Michigan State University and shared several years with her there.  During that time we shared in worship, in meals, in travel and in many many craft nights, impromptu movie nights and late night dessert runs.

I was thrilled when she moved back to Michigan after completing her masters degree and working for several years out of state, and have greatly enjoyed the last year getting to see her more frequently and rekindle our friendship.  I hope my letter gives her even the slightest indication of how much she means to me, because she's freaking amazing.

Letter #49 - Rachel

When I was in Grade One I had one of those weird phenomenons of a class of 15-20 kids with only about 10 names.  We had SO many repeats in that class... Trevors, Sara/hs, Justins and Rachels.  It was my first time encountering someone who had the same name as me, and at first I didn't take it too well.  Needless to say, I got over it, and Rachel is now one of my oldest friends (time-wise, not age-wise).  Over the years Rachel and I have drifted in and out of each others' lives, in and out of contact, but we always manage to reconnect here or there and send each other a hello, thinking of you or say hi to your family for me.  She is one of those people who will probably get a card from me every Christmas of her life.  I can't seem to let her go, no matter how far apart we live, how long it's been since we last spoke, or how infrequently I hear back from her.

Rachel comes from a family of musicians and is a gifted musician herself.  I was always jealous of her growing up because while I practiced and practiced (read: fought my parents tooth and nail on being forced to practice even 20 minutes per day) piano, she could sit down and play the entire score from Phantom of the Opera without even having music in front of her.

I remember one time I was at her house for a sleepover (a common occurrence when we were young) and we decided we needed more money.  Why, I don't remember, but we needed it.  So we spent the whole afternoon making cheap little friendship bracelets, then went around door to door in her neighbourhood selling them for something like a quarter a piece.  We always had creative ways to spend our time... making bracelets, playing music, building snow forts, watching her brother build robots, watching movies, "cooking", teaching ourselves the art of makeup (oh Lord I'm sure photos exist!).  I loved Rachel's parents, her dog, her house, her brother (even though he despised us, as all older brothers should at that age).  She loved my parents, my cats, my house, my brother (though we also despised him, as all older sisters should at that age).

I wrote to Rachel to catch up.  I told her about some of the things happening in my life, asked her for news about her own adventures.  I sent her a few photos, and reminded her that I was still glad to count her as a friend, even if we haven't seen each other in probably 15 years now.  I don't know if I'll hear back from her, she never was all that great at writing letters, even when we were closer, but I felt really good about sending her a hi, a thinking of you, and a say hi to your family for me.

Letter #19 - Margaret

Today I decided to pair my letter with a gift I've been meaning to send to my aunt.  Auntie Marg is one of the van Rossums, and super awesome.  She was the one who started the work on my wedding gown (and would have finished it if life hadn't exploded).  We share a love of cooking, and she is always giving me new ideas to try in the kitchen.  I don't really write to her, and as I started the letter I was suddenly really insecure that I wouldn't be able to think of anything interesting to say, or that anything I wrote would come off as lame or forced.  Before I knew it, I had written the entire inside of the notecard and the back of it as well.

Auntie Marg and I also share a love of crafting.  While we express ourselves with different mediums, we have had some great creative conversations, and are always eager to see the new projects the other is working on.  In fact, I'm excited to show her a new project I just finished that I'm considering adding to my Shutterbug crafty repertoire.

Writing to Auntie Marg made me miss her, and miss my cousins (her kids) quite a bit.  Maybe my husband and I can take a long weekend sometime this year and go visit them.