Dearest Rachel –
Way back in the early 90s, when we were still able to – and inclined to – go out to the movies, there were a number of films that stuck with us, however average and unremarkable they might have been in retrospect. One of them was a film called Mermaids, which featured a still-teenaged Winona Ryder (the closest thing I had to a cinematic crush) as the slightly unbalanced daughter of Cher, effectively playing Holly Golightly as a middle-aged single mother in early ’60s rural Massachusetts (when I put it that way, it sounds so much dumber than it seemed at the time).
The soundtrack contributed to our musical messaging back-and-forth – Jimmy Soul’s ‘If You Wanna Be Happy’ acknowledged that neither of us were conventionally ‘beautiful’, but there were plenty of advantages to that; Mickey & Sylvia’s ‘Love Is Strange’ became one of those numbers we would act out on the dance floor; and you made it abundantly clear that you agreed with Cher’s own cover of ‘It’s In His Kiss.’ I miss being able to enjoy that music – and, let’s not forget, those kisses – with you.
One scene that I still remember, despite not having watched the film for decades now, is the sight of Noni’s character Charlotte making off with the family car, and – as she’s tearing through the suburbs of Connecticut – leaning out the car window and yelling out at all and sundry, “I want to live a wild and exciting life!” which, considering much of her character was based off of deliberately being as much of the polar opposite of her flighty, roundheeled mother as she could be, seemed like almost a psychotic break for the girl.
And yet, we all have those moments when we wish for our lives to be more exciting than they are – if only to have something to bring up in conversation (or, in our case, these letters). If there’s literally ‘nothing to write home about’ in one’s day, what does one write about? Sure, I’ve been given permission to skip a day here or there, but that would be like going a full day without so much as speaking to you, and when did we ever do that? There’s got to be something I can talk with you about today, hasn’t there?
Although… maybe the very lack of things to talk about (certainly, in comparison to the last couple of weeks of frenzied activity) is something worth talking about in its own right. Maybe not for any extended length of time or words, but it’s gotten more unusual in its own rarity, and that’s worth comment. Add to that the fact that there’s nothing particularly wrong with the odd dull day, after all – wasn’t the old saying ‘may you live in interesting times’ meant to be a curse, after all?
For all that we sometimes seem to wish that every day was non-stop go-go-go, there’s something to be said about a moment or two – or even a whole day – to catch your breath. Some days are like that, and that’s perfectly fine. Indeed, we may need days like that more often than we’d like to believe.
Now, if only we could get the outside world to shut down like this for a day or two now and then…
Until later, honey, keep an eye out for me, and try not to get too bored. Love you.
Letters to Rachel 