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letter from the past
Apr. 22nd, 2009 03:55 pmtoday i checked my old yahoo account for the first time in a long time, and found a letter from my past self (from futureme.org) that i wrote on friday, march 26, 2004:
> Dear FutureMe,
>
> Today you went on a long walk at lunch, on the first truly
> sunny and warm day of Spring. The water was sparkling and
> beautiful, and though it glared in your eyes and your shins
> ached, you were happy and your body was happy to be moving.
> Today you are twenty-four years old, living on Highland
> Avenue in Somerville, with Kirk (the love of your life) and
> your two cats, Milou and Pippa.
>
> Today you were laughing at work with CeCe and Liz and
> making fun of the America's Next Top Model application. Kirk
> is working late at the Rigoletto show. You have money in the
> bank and you want to go to Target to buy things, something,
> anything. Maybe to Petsmart tomorrow, maybe to a bookstore.
>
> Tonight when you got home from work, you open the windows
> to let in the cool evening air, and to let the cats jump up
> onto the sills and look out at the cars, the birds. Floating
> over the traffic noises were the bells from St Catherine's
> of Genoa, up the hill, which you hear so frequently now, and
> you are afraid it might be their death knell, their last
> attempt to call in the faithful flocks, their siren song. St
> Catherine's is a high traditional cathedral on the hill,
> pale bricks and a small school tucked in across the narrow
> street, next to the Greek Orthodox church. St Catherine's is
> slated to be closing, out of all the local Somerville parish
> schools. Do they hold mass more frequently because of that?
> You don't know, but you keep running to the window to try to
> record the sound of those bells, floating over the chilled
> air.
>
> Last week you won $1,000. Have you won any more prizes?
> Entered contests, applied for grants, for chapbook
> competitions? Have you submitted poetry for publication? Do
> you read lots of things to find new places to submit to? Are
> you still dabbling in web design? How is the Persnicket
> website? The Milk and Ink blog? Did you ever buy that hand
> press?
>
> Are you in Oregon now? Are you married? Did you buy a
> house? Where is Jennie? Where is Sally? Did you ever buy a
> car? Did you parents sell the old Cottonwood Court house and
> build their own? Is Rosie dead? Are you still on medication?
> Did you ever get in contact with people you lost touch
> with---JR, Carrie, Jen Mack, Leah? What about your tenth
> high school reunion? What about your fifth college reunion?
> Where are you working now, and are you happy? Remember
> yourself as you are today, still living paycheck to paycheck
> but comfortable, happy, liking the house and loving love and
> all that other stuff. Life is good, that's what I want to
> say. Is it still good?
>
>
the answers, five years later: later i won $10,000 for that same poem, and then $3,500 for my graduate work. i was published in small-press projects but nothing bigger than that. persnicket is dormant, milk and ink is defunct. i did buy that press, though i haven't used it in a couple years.
i'm in oregon. i'm married. we just bought a house. jennie works in portland. sally lives in minnesota. we bought a car. my parents did sell their old house and they did build their own. rosie died a year and a half ago. i'm not on medication anymore. of those four people, i wrote a letter to carrie, looked in vain for jen, and write occasionally to leah. i went to my tenth high school reunion. i didn't make it to my fifth college reunion. i work at lewis & clark college, and i'm happy (mostly?). not deliriously so but content and steady.
life is still good.
> Dear FutureMe,
>
> Today you went on a long walk at lunch, on the first truly
> sunny and warm day of Spring. The water was sparkling and
> beautiful, and though it glared in your eyes and your shins
> ached, you were happy and your body was happy to be moving.
> Today you are twenty-four years old, living on Highland
> Avenue in Somerville, with Kirk (the love of your life) and
> your two cats, Milou and Pippa.
>
> Today you were laughing at work with CeCe and Liz and
> making fun of the America's Next Top Model application. Kirk
> is working late at the Rigoletto show. You have money in the
> bank and you want to go to Target to buy things, something,
> anything. Maybe to Petsmart tomorrow, maybe to a bookstore.
>
> Tonight when you got home from work, you open the windows
> to let in the cool evening air, and to let the cats jump up
> onto the sills and look out at the cars, the birds. Floating
> over the traffic noises were the bells from St Catherine's
> of Genoa, up the hill, which you hear so frequently now, and
> you are afraid it might be their death knell, their last
> attempt to call in the faithful flocks, their siren song. St
> Catherine's is a high traditional cathedral on the hill,
> pale bricks and a small school tucked in across the narrow
> street, next to the Greek Orthodox church. St Catherine's is
> slated to be closing, out of all the local Somerville parish
> schools. Do they hold mass more frequently because of that?
> You don't know, but you keep running to the window to try to
> record the sound of those bells, floating over the chilled
> air.
>
> Last week you won $1,000. Have you won any more prizes?
> Entered contests, applied for grants, for chapbook
> competitions? Have you submitted poetry for publication? Do
> you read lots of things to find new places to submit to? Are
> you still dabbling in web design? How is the Persnicket
> website? The Milk and Ink blog? Did you ever buy that hand
> press?
>
> Are you in Oregon now? Are you married? Did you buy a
> house? Where is Jennie? Where is Sally? Did you ever buy a
> car? Did you parents sell the old Cottonwood Court house and
> build their own? Is Rosie dead? Are you still on medication?
> Did you ever get in contact with people you lost touch
> with---JR, Carrie, Jen Mack, Leah? What about your tenth
> high school reunion? What about your fifth college reunion?
> Where are you working now, and are you happy? Remember
> yourself as you are today, still living paycheck to paycheck
> but comfortable, happy, liking the house and loving love and
> all that other stuff. Life is good, that's what I want to
> say. Is it still good?
>
>
the answers, five years later: later i won $10,000 for that same poem, and then $3,500 for my graduate work. i was published in small-press projects but nothing bigger than that. persnicket is dormant, milk and ink is defunct. i did buy that press, though i haven't used it in a couple years.
i'm in oregon. i'm married. we just bought a house. jennie works in portland. sally lives in minnesota. we bought a car. my parents did sell their old house and they did build their own. rosie died a year and a half ago. i'm not on medication anymore. of those four people, i wrote a letter to carrie, looked in vain for jen, and write occasionally to leah. i went to my tenth high school reunion. i didn't make it to my fifth college reunion. i work at lewis & clark college, and i'm happy (mostly?). not deliriously so but content and steady.
life is still good.
