write a letter, get a letter

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a Letter Writing gathering at the Hideout. It had been a really tough day. Actually, it had been a supremely awful day, one that I wish not to repeat anytime soon. But it was quietly coming to an end. And so I limped on over to the Hideout, said hey to the lovely Letter Writers Alliance ladies, grabbed a beer, picked out some stationery and a pen, found a place at the table across from my old friend Nance and wrote a letter to my 11 year-old neice Claire. It wasn't my most inspired letter writing: I asked fairly basic questions ("What's new? What are you reading?") and kept it pretty short. But it got me out of my own head. I had a feeling Claire would appreciate getting an actual letter in the mail--it coming simply out of the blue and for no good reason other than to say hello and let her know that I was thinking about her.  And so my letter to her was put in the mailbox and that was that. I really didn't think much more about it again. Until yesterday, when I came home and in a plain, white envelope with my name on it was this:

A hand-written, two page, exclamation-mark filled letter from Miss Claire. I think you can read the really big exciting news in the center "I MIGHT GET A BUNNY!" (!!!!!) But what you might not to be able to read is Claire telling me about her Thanksgiving and then she asks about the Letter Writing party I was at. She asks if I've been to Korean bbq lately (I took her and Sam to San Soo Gab San when she visited last summer) and then recounts how recently she had to endure eating escargot at a French restaurant for her father's birthday. "Happy Birthday, here's some snails!" she quips and draws a teeny version of their curly-moustached waiter, who she simply calls Mr. Mushtash. She also tells me how she is reading this series of books called "The Secret Series" and how they are so, so much better than "The Lord of Rings" which she says "was probably the most tedius (sic) book of all time. 75% of the book was: They walked. It was cold. They walked. It was cold." Her summary of "The Lord of the Rings" killed me. (And I totally agree with her.) And then she ends the letter with this drawing she made for Sam, since she knows he digs Calvin & Hobbes. "Ask him 4 me if it looks OK."

I haven't been this happy with getting something in the mail in a long, long time. It just totally filled me with the kind of joy that has no price tag. A simple letter filled with news and snippets and questions & comments. I adore it. And so I am going to write her back and tell her just that.

Oh, and I hope she gets the bunny. I'll tell her that too.

 

 

Comments

[Jennifer Tawse]

Dearest Bonniejean: It means so much to me that you and Claire have a connection and a letter writing connection is quite touching to my heart. You must know that Claire would not let me read your letter and I never once said,"write Aunt Bonniejean back". She wrote it, stamped ad then I wrote the address and plopped it into the mail. Wonderful and your blog just cheers my soul on a cold day in Colorado. Hugs, Jen

[Bonnie]

I plan on writing her back later today. But do let her know how tickled Sam was/is with the Calvin drawing. Very sweet.