TTW: Your book was
important to me. People with
our roots do not usually attempt or achieve
secular literary success. I needed to see it for
that reason. I also have a
mommy, and her life is
finite. The book belongs to her, and when I need it the most, I will
inherit her copy.
RP: I am
sorry that the
scar tissue on the heart is
all I have to show, even for the
good times. You were the first person to say I was
beautiful. You taught me there is
nothing I can't survive. I wish the same had been
true for you.
SM: You are the model
for the strong woman I will be. You have taught me
unconditional love.
PM: It's usually
fun to know you. When it isn't, I learn.
JM: You taught me that
I could be more than I thought I could. I think you've finally internalized the lesson.
CY: Thank you for not
putting me in a box. I don't think I would have escaped.
SM (2): You were probably
more important to me than I to you. You didn't leave my side when I
hurt, though.
LB:
Words mean everything to me. You know that. I needed a
sister and a
mentor and you did your best, by remote and in spite of your own
deep hurting.
SB: I wish you would
return my calls. You used to
listen to me. Your poems were
electric; why did you drop the pen?
SH:
Your letters got me through high school. Your openness is
getting me through college, even by remote.
BZ: You're a
force of wonder in my life, and have been since you entered it.
You know what's important, probably better than anyone I know.
NR: You
used to inspire me because you believed in yourself. When I discovered that
you don't believe in anything besides yourself, I was less impressed. There were plenty of
good times, however, before we fell out.
MZ: You were
fearless and
beautiful and capable of of more
love and empathy than anyone we went to school with. I wanted you so badly
I could not speak. Probably more painfully,
I wanted to be like you.
KB: You were
never afraid to be kind to me, even when you didn't know my name. There was so more to you than the
dirge they played at your funeral. You were
loyal and
real. Those qualities are
far too rare, and
every shred of evidence to that effect makes me ache.
JC:
I miss you terribly. You had relationships with
dirt,
sun, and
pie. I
lost my place when
you lost yours.