Hi Bestie!
Hi! I’m giving you an enthusiastic wave, can you see it?
When I was a little girl, my dad either left for work at dawn or in the afternoon (…which is how I leave for work, now!), and when he left in the afternoon—or when he came home around the same time—we’d stand at the back door and wave with gusto. Because you’ve (probably) met me, you can imagine that I displayed an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm. I can shut down emotionally easily, but "Displayed an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm" should be engraved on the metal plaque on my memorial bench. (Eastern Parkway, Rockaway Beach, or Ocean City, thanks!)
My best friend left in a cab for the airport last year and my neighbor and I stood on our stoop and repeated the same behavior. She texted us from the red light, which we could see from our perch, “I feel like you’re standing on a pier waving my ship off to sea!!” Well, yeah. I guess that's the same.
She left Sunday morning and I'm sorry now I didn't do the same. I could have started a bit to last me the next 60 years! It was 4:45 a.m. and I had finally crawled into bed after a long night of trying to sweep wet confetti. We've been really lucky, so maybe we'll remember in March. (Or maybe we'll have a new bit, which is one of the joys of life and an uncertain future.)
Anyway, I’m welcoming you aboard. It’s so nice to see you! You deserve this kind of welcome. Is it too much? When my sister leaves her home, she opens the mail slot in her front door and waves her fingers at her son, and that sort of gentle farewell warms my heart.
If you'd prefer something subdued, here are my fingers through the mail slot. They're not manicured. I’d like to think my unbridled willingness to share is a gentle wave, too.
It’s a twist cone of enthusiasm! I like my twist with sprinkles in a cup, but sometimes a cone comes in a plastic sleeve and catches all the drip, and that’s what I intend to do here: fling sprinkles (metaphorically, you don’t need safety goggles or a broom) from all the things I read and heard and saw.
(This cone was actually covered in a thin peanut butter shell, and that's not bad, either!)
I think my friends miss me. I know I miss them! I don’t think anyone has the time to text or email and still take care of themselves anymore (I know I don’t!) or even read a newsletter, but occasionally a person has a moment to ask themselves how their friend is. Unfortunately, if we were getting a drink together I’d probably forget to tell you that I'd won an Emmy but I'd definitely tell you the fun fact I read in National Geographic last month.
Do I think anyone will subscribe? Definitely not! I also don’t think I’ll email often and that’s fine too! I started this in my notes app on the subway, which is a “perfect graveyard” of hubris and really good ideas. (Scroll through it before you order my engraved plate, please!)
See you soon!
Always your friend, Katherine
p/s You can always reply to these emails. To paraphrase my dad, we're all friends here. This is not a place for not speaking up.