Feb 11 ~ 2011
Yesterday I checked the mail & found a THICK letter addressed to me. It was on some nice stationary. It was exciting. I of course knew the sender and was excited to hear from her. But the envelope remained closed. I moved it from location to location throughout the day. It was like a gift. I know it sounds lame and truely like I am a lunatic but getting mail ~ actual mail ~ was like an event! So when I finally carried it into the bedroom last night and Espen was sleeping soundly, I had time to open it & savor the words. Like a piece of cake (and I love cake!). We live in such an age of technology that we are all so used to a quick text or email or 400 character facebook message. So recieving the letter was special! It made me remeber why I love to get Christmas cards. Because sometimes someone takes the time to actually write a quick note at the bottom of their generic family letter! I used to be good about sending my "kids" postcards. A postcard is nothing big, nothing fancy & doesn't hold alot of information but for the person getting it .. it remains something special. I sent my sisters postcards for awhile even. I remember a time when there was fine stationary stores. Where the feel & texture of the paper was as special as what was written. Now we may include an emoticon with our typed text and we may choose a font different than Times New Roman... but still.. there is not alot of personlity to a typed message. So for that gift of just a simple letter... I am appreciative! I have even thought about it today... some 24 hours after I got it. And the thought of going back & reading it again somehow pleases me. Silly silly me.
When the events I am about to tell you happened I thought about friends & how to make them, how to keep them & what they mean to us... and the letter made me smile again and actually not feel so pathetic.
Yesterday Espen & I were invited by a mom at Gymboree to the Omaha public library for story time. It is a drive for us to say the least (but so is Gymboree). But since we have that ability to do these things & I like to expose him to new places & environments & I am looking for some friends I got us up, dressed and we made it! Her grandson & Espen play well together and as they were playing in the library, we chatted about the weather (it is nice) and how old the boys are. Then she asked me where we lived. I have nothing to hide (I had already assumed she lived in Omaha proper) I told her southern Bellevue. She wanted to know where abouts because she said, "Jxxxxx's father is a Bellevue police officer." So I said south of Capehart & near 36th. After a few more polite questions, Jxxxxx had wondered off & she followed him. Espen & I were reading a book (it was the library & it was story time) when she came back, collected their things and without a word moved them to another part of the library. I nearly cried right then. What had I said or done that made her move away. I didn't say anything about my views on politics, religion, race, abortion or the like. Was it embarrassing to her to be speaking to a white lady & a black child when there were NO OTHER people of any other race at the library? (I notice these things for Espen's sake). I had brushed my teeth (and Espen's), put on deodrant, showered...I even had on clean clothes... and if you know me at this stage in my life, you understand that no matter how hard I try, I have 2 dogs, 2 cats & a beautiful son that occassionally get me messy (usually right before we go somewhere). We participated in the rest of story time, just Espen & I alone in a sea of strangers. Then I collected our things & we walked to her, thanked her very sweetly for inviting us and told her we would see her next week at Gymboree. Her response to me was "oh ok". And off we went... Espen & I. He was so happy. We played in the snow on the way to the car, we sang a song & watched a bird. Inside I was fueled and saddened.
And now it is nap time and I crack out a blog and sit with my pen at the ready to send a letter to my friend in reply. She reads my blog when she can but there is something so special about getting a letter. And I think about the places I have been & the friends I've had and how many are still a part of my life today. Maybe because we moved so often as young people or maybe because I simply "let them go" it saddens me to tell you that I keep intouch with only a handful of people from my past. Many just at Christmas time or a quick FB message on a birthday. Maybe that is how it is when we get "grown up" and move. Do I think of them... yes... and wonder how their lives are and remember the great times we had together... memories that is what I have.
Today I told Doug I didn't need any new friends. Because I am so tired of trying at different places & in different ways to meet people that I may have something in common with. I have a great little boy who I will take a million places and if someone should happen to befriend us, great... other wise we will just work on our social skills and being polite to strangers!
And now I must get to my letter writing... the old pen & paper call to me... try it... send someone a real letter... like they used to do back in the day!!
When the events I am about to tell you happened I thought about friends & how to make them, how to keep them & what they mean to us... and the letter made me smile again and actually not feel so pathetic.
Yesterday Espen & I were invited by a mom at Gymboree to the Omaha public library for story time. It is a drive for us to say the least (but so is Gymboree). But since we have that ability to do these things & I like to expose him to new places & environments & I am looking for some friends I got us up, dressed and we made it! Her grandson & Espen play well together and as they were playing in the library, we chatted about the weather (it is nice) and how old the boys are. Then she asked me where we lived. I have nothing to hide (I had already assumed she lived in Omaha proper) I told her southern Bellevue. She wanted to know where abouts because she said, "Jxxxxx's father is a Bellevue police officer." So I said south of Capehart & near 36th. After a few more polite questions, Jxxxxx had wondered off & she followed him. Espen & I were reading a book (it was the library & it was story time) when she came back, collected their things and without a word moved them to another part of the library. I nearly cried right then. What had I said or done that made her move away. I didn't say anything about my views on politics, religion, race, abortion or the like. Was it embarrassing to her to be speaking to a white lady & a black child when there were NO OTHER people of any other race at the library? (I notice these things for Espen's sake). I had brushed my teeth (and Espen's), put on deodrant, showered...I even had on clean clothes... and if you know me at this stage in my life, you understand that no matter how hard I try, I have 2 dogs, 2 cats & a beautiful son that occassionally get me messy (usually right before we go somewhere). We participated in the rest of story time, just Espen & I alone in a sea of strangers. Then I collected our things & we walked to her, thanked her very sweetly for inviting us and told her we would see her next week at Gymboree. Her response to me was "oh ok". And off we went... Espen & I. He was so happy. We played in the snow on the way to the car, we sang a song & watched a bird. Inside I was fueled and saddened.
And now it is nap time and I crack out a blog and sit with my pen at the ready to send a letter to my friend in reply. She reads my blog when she can but there is something so special about getting a letter. And I think about the places I have been & the friends I've had and how many are still a part of my life today. Maybe because we moved so often as young people or maybe because I simply "let them go" it saddens me to tell you that I keep intouch with only a handful of people from my past. Many just at Christmas time or a quick FB message on a birthday. Maybe that is how it is when we get "grown up" and move. Do I think of them... yes... and wonder how their lives are and remember the great times we had together... memories that is what I have.
Today I told Doug I didn't need any new friends. Because I am so tired of trying at different places & in different ways to meet people that I may have something in common with. I have a great little boy who I will take a million places and if someone should happen to befriend us, great... other wise we will just work on our social skills and being polite to strangers!
And now I must get to my letter writing... the old pen & paper call to me... try it... send someone a real letter... like they used to do back in the day!!
:)
ReplyDeleteCourtney
P.S. Sorry that happened to you with that rude Gymboree lady. She doesn't know what she is missing.