From my good friend Gretchen Whipple, recently returned from her husband's family's estate in France:
Dearest Margaret:
I was running early this morning and I thought of you. I have a slight cold so instead of running my normal 12 miles I decided to run only seven and take a short cut through Lacy Park. It brought back so many memories!
Remember when the girls were toddlers and we used to bring them here? Jenny was always climbing the jungle gyms and singing French folk songs while your kids would try and shove sand down each other's throats. Wow. Good times. And it seems like it was just yesterday!
Now Jenny is in Peru helping a poor family of goat herders. She even crocheted little earmuffs for the goats--you know, it's wintertime there.
I guess I'm just sentimental because Henri, the twins, little Jimmy and I all miss her so much. The twins are writing her a song for her return. It's called "Jenny: Best Sister EVAH!" (EVAH is apparently slang for ever. Kids these days!)
And how are your girls getting along this summer? I bet it's all sunshine and roses at your house, just like it is at ours! Aren't the teen years the absolute best EVAH! Won't you miss them when they are over? Sigh.
Well, I'm off to get a massage and facial. How's that nervous eye tic going? Better yet?
As they say in Peru, muchos besos,
Gretchen
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12 comments:
Ah, this does indeed take me back, to Nicole Hollander's comic strip Sylvia, and the recurring character called "The Woman who does everything better than you."
Good luck!
We all need friends to keep us humble.
Oh Margaret! :-D
Like Olga said!
You're so fortunate to have such wunderful friends, MF. Some of it has obviously rubbed off on you, or vice-versa.
I love getting a letter from a friend in the mail. Letters are so much nicer than an email I think. We all get fewer and fewer letters in the mail. ~ Hmmm-- maybe I will go write one!
How nice to get a letter like this! It makes me want to write a letter to some of my nearest and dearest. I have my own nervous eye tic, too...
Thanks!
-Miss GOP (your newest follower)
Does Ms. Whipple have a posse of goddesses at her beck and call? I think not.
can't wait for the Christmas news letter
Well, I'm happy for Gretchen.
As for you, Margaret, I will buy you a cup of coffee or a stein of vodka any time you need it. If your kids' teen years are anything like mine were, you will all benefit.
Dear Gretchen:
My poor dear! My heart goes out to you! It seems my family and I have been able to evade the typical shallow arriviste pressures that are affecting you. (You probably are already aware that Peru and the south of France are so last season.) We decided to dedicate our community service much closer to home--and thought we should integrate our local public middle and high school. So far the experiment is brilliant, but it is, of course, summer.
I would be happy to meet for a soy latte after my yoga meditation sometime, and before the fam and I head off to our island--
ttfn
(ta ta for now)
mf
something you want to tell us?
A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out!
Friendship letter to best friend
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