December 5th, 2009

Natalie

I've been sick over the last couple of days.

It has limited my encountering strangers whose

spirt, smile, action, kindness or quirk make me happy.

Pouty, sneezy, and hacking, I spent some time this weekend going

through boxes of old photographs and keepsakes.

When my sister Petra died, on a Tuesday night in March of 1997,

I brought home her address book.

Because who she was, and how she lived, she had many friends.

Most of them I knew, many I did not.

I spent the first couple of weeks after her death

writing to each of her friends.

I thanked them for being with her during her life,

and implored them to not forget her in death.

I found this letter.

I love that Natalie took the time to write me back.

I love that she loved Petra.

But perhaps most of all,

I love that she wondered if I had "a shirt or something of hers"

that I could give up.

I hope I sent Natalie a shirt. Or a glove.

Or something.

And I hope that she still has Petra's letters, the mix tape

that she hates, and whatever else she can hold

onto to from a life gone too soon.

That would make me happy.