Wednesday, January 6, 2010

letters to hazel

My first blog post of 2010...where does the time go? It was with that thought in mind a year ago that I began my letters to Hazel...




My best friend in this world moved to Florida several years ago and now she has beautiful daughter who just turned two this past December. My friend and I stay connected via email, phone calls, facebook and through a few in person visits throughout the year....and it is relatively easy to do because she knows me. Every part of me. So even if we don't talk due to busy lives for a few weeks, as soon as I hear her voice I feel instantly connected to her...we just pick up where we left off. I realized, in the months following her daughter's birth, that I wanted her daughter to really know me, too.





So on that little girl's first birthday I gave my friend the first letter to Hazel, positioned on the first page of a scrapbook...the beginning of a collection for her. And I would send her a letter each year for her birthday...a letter that contained: bits and pieces of my journey that year, my wishes for her, stories about her mother and I, my thoughts. And through this collection of letters she would come to know me.




I can imagine now, her mother's voice as she reads what I have written to her daughter...and that makes me smile. I can imagine, in the near future, a little girl sounding out letters and vowels as she reads my words herself in a voice that sounds just like her mother's...and that makes my heart swell up. And perhaps one day, I can imagine a letter in return...addressed to an older woman and filled with the writing, hopes and dreams of a young woman....and that will fill my soul with joy. And she won't just know me...we will know each other.