Dear Amanda,
Hey! How’s it going? Oh – sorry. This letter sort of came out of nowhere, didn’t it? I know, it’s trite – and I’d be really lying to you if I said this time was the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. I offer you the most sincere of apologies, as I do worry about how these sorts of things will be received, you know? I think about it a lot.
I also – and here’s why I’m writing you – think about you. Not necessarily “a lot,” but from time to time you pop into my head. Not sure why; I don’t think we’ve met. But, like I said (wrote? haha!) before, I do this thing a lot – meaning, I write letters to folks I’ve never met, and never will meet.
Oh, man. Wait. What I’m trying to say is not that I wish I’d met you, or that reading about you made me all teary-eyed and hollow-feeling (though, really, all three of these statements are true). What I’m actually getting at here – and I’ll get there soon, promise! haha! – is that: man! What a gal you sure were!
And really, that’s it. I get a little tongue-tied (thumb-twisted?) with these sorts of letters. I mean, on one hand, I want to tell you how you’ve inspired me and how when thoughts of you surface in my brain that it makes me want to sort of, you know, live how I think you might have lived – or at least try! But on the other hand, I can’t help but feel like my words are a little… resonant? No. Not resonant. Echo-y. Like something that bounces around a big empty something.
Oh, I don’t know, Amanda. I’m really getting off track here, aren’t I? I really hope that you see that I mean well (oh! By no means am I implying that you wouldn’t have better things to do than to check in on what I’m doing from up there or over there or wherever you are now; no ma’am!) and that somewhere in between all these damn words you figure out what I’m really trying to say, because I sure as hell don’t, ha ha.
Butnoseriously, seriously: you’re inspirational. There. I said it. Inspirational! And I mean it, too. Man, I really like that word. Doesn’t it sort of starburst in your mouth when you say it? I think it’s the sp part that I like the best, don’t you? Or maybe you don’t care for the word. You’ve probably heard, read it many times before in your reference, eh? And can you blame them? Okay, okay. Enough. I’m really getting off topic now.
No! I got it! This is what I’m getting at! This is what I mean:
Thank you.
A lot. Like, a lot-a lot.
Gosh: you were something!
Thank you.
Yours truly,
Julie
the sloppy copy 