Dear ToothFairy --
I hope you come to visit tonight, as one of my boys has lost another tooth -- again!
Thankfully, this tooth wasn't lost tragically like the last (and his brother still feels quite guilty about the whole ordeal...).
My babies are growing up! It won't be long before you visit us for the final time. I am not sure what you actually do with all those teeth -- or where you get all your money (I won't judge) -- but I was hoping you might leave their last baby tooth behind for me to treasure and put in their baby books.
Just think about it, ok?
Lizzy
P.S. -- Don't take any offense when I tell you that I hope I will never see you around here after their last (Baby!) tooth has come out.
ALONE
I am alone, in spite of love,
In spite of all I take and give --
In spite of all your tenderness,
Sometimes I am not glad to live.
I am alone, as though I stood
On the highest peak of the tired gray world,
About me only swirling snow,
Above me, endless space unfurled;
With earth hidden and heaven hidden,
And only my own spirit's pride
To keep me from the peace of those
Who are not lonely, having died.
--- Sarah Teasdale
Dear Cheryl,
Was reminded of you today when I was enjoying the beautiful Magnolia tree blossoms -- springtime always reminds me of you.
Although our acquaintanceship was brief, its impact has had a profound effect on me. Of all the ill and dying patients I have seen throughout the years, none have equaled you in cheerfulness, courage, and grace.
Despite all your pain and suffering, you never once complained and you always held your head high -- even when your life was visibly draining from your cancer-stricken body.
I always wondered where your strength came from -- what was your source of peace, despite all the troubles that afflicted you? I never was able to ask you this, as you quietly passed away before I had the chance.
Give me the strength I need to get through these troubled days and perhaps one day I, too, will be filled with that Peace.
Fondly,
Dr. Liz
Dear Jane,
I write this letter in great haste, as I am afraid what I will find that has become of you as I continue to Chapter 35.
Please pardon my bluntness when I beg of you to RUN, Jane, RUN! Get as far away from St. John and Moore House as you can! His heart is of ice and he is manipulating and twisting words to guilt you into betraying what your soul understands so clearly: HE DOES NOT LOVE YOU!
Do not loose heart, dear Jane, as not all men are scoundrels and others of that ilk. [I have it on good authority there is a gentleman who goes by the name of Mr. Knightely, who is both kind, gentle, and most highly respected by all those who meet and know him. His residence is about a mile from Highbury -- which I should think is quite close to you!]
Stay true to yourself, Jane, and trust there is a man out there who will love you with a love you deserve. Do not settle! (Perhaps I should introduce you to my friend, Elizabeth Bennet?)
Regards,
Lizzy Smit
P.S. -- Stay away from Mr. Rochester and trouble your heart no longer about him. He has no respect for you and will only keep you in chains.
Mom --
I hope this letter finds you doing well. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to visit you last week. I was unable to get time off from work. I hope I will get to see you next week.
Nurse Annette said you seemed to recognize my face when I saw you the last time -- I really couldn't tell.
I miss you, Mom. I miss talking with you and sharing my life with you. We had grown so close and I feel great sadness to have that taken from me. Do you remember me, how I remember you -- or do you have patches of emptiness where their memories once lay?
Chloé told me I looked like you did when you were my age (she is the only one who talks with me now -- remember?) If so, does that confuse you when I come to visit you -- as if I had somehow stolen your face?
The boys are getting bigger (10 years old now!) and school is almost over for the year. We don't have any summer plans for vacation (haven't had a vacation since they were 3 years old...). So I will try and bring them for a visit so they can at least have some sort of memory of their grandmother, even if she won't have any of them.
I know it is easy for me to think of your Alzheimer's as a curse for you, but perhaps it is some sort of blessing in disguise. You no longer retain any memories of pain or loss and are set free of the baggage you otherwise would have carried. Every day would be fresh and new and full of wonder -- The life of an innocent child...
I love you.
Your Lizzy
Hello Bobby!
I found the pipe-cleaner clown you made for your 5th Birthday party. It was buried in a box of childhood things (don't worry, it wasn't crushed too bad!). I haven't seen you since we moved away that autumn, but I still fondly remember the sunny little boy with the chocolate brown eyes who was my best friend! :-)
Where has life taken you -- what paths did you travel? Did you become the astronaut you had dreamed you would be? (I did become the doctor I thought I would!)
I am sad to tell you the little twin Zoë (the one you were most fond of) died about seven years ago in Paris. She was training to be an artist and was living with Marie at the time. You would have liked Zoë -- she had your sunny disposition and delightful imagination.
Oh, my dear friend, how I miss those simple days of childhood -- chasing fireflies at dusk, peanut butter and Kool-Aid lunches, riding bikes until the street lights came on ... our only care in the world was having to go inside and brush our teeth!
(Would we even recognize each other now if we passed on the street?)
Your old friend,
"Dizzy"!
p.s. To this day, I cannot bear the taste of Flinstone Chewable Vitamins! I am sorry I thought it would be a great idea to eat the entire bottle...
Dear Jessica --
Thinking of you, as I always do, when I drive over the bridge where you jumped. I can vividly remember that February morning and it makes me sad to think of you lying in your icy grave.
I often wonder why you did it: what made you become so desolate that the only way out was to end it all?
I can understand what it is like to be drowning in darkness -- no light visible -- no hope. All the bright colors in the world never managing to seep to the inside to displace all the black...
I hope it is eternally Springtime for you now --
Lizzy
