#marigoldtea

Dear Shannon,

Can I write you? Sure I can, right? Now that I’m here, you’re there, I can write again.

Well, we’ve had a visitor! Becky came, just like we arranged at the party you threw on the day I graduated.

When she arrived, I realized that she and I don’t even know each other! We had just the one conversation, when we met at your party, before she came here.

We weren’t sure what to say to…

Dear me,

The gnomes may be celebrating my return from university…

but I’ve come home to a mess.

I walked right into the middle of a fight between Riley and Bo.

“But you can’t keep pranking everything,” Riley was saying.

Bo screamed. “It’s just a whoopee cushion!”

Riley was being so reasonable, explaining all the ways somebody could get hurt.

“But I have to!” screamed Bo. “You’re limiting my…

Dear me,

I made it through finals! I’ve been reading so much about the benefits of oxygenating the system before mental concentration, so I went for a long run before the first exam.

I think it helped–I mean, I’m sure it did! I cruised through each test.

But by the end of the last final, I was bushed.

Then I got a text from Shannon, saying she was throwing a party and would I come?

Of course…

Dear me,

I’m still shaky inside. I’m hoping that writing will help me calm down. But it won’t make things right. Nothing can right what happened tonight.

The evening started so happy. Shannon called after the lecture to ask if I wanted to come to her bonfire. It had started to snow that afternoon, and the idea of a blazing fire while snowflakes fell had me feeling excited. Maybe we’d roast…

Dear me,

I feel I’ve never noticed how beautiful autumn is before! At home, it’s not so different from the other seasons–gray skies and rain. Here, we get enough rain that I don’t feel homesick, but we also get sun that sparkles the ground in gold light.

I’ve been watching the chipmunks and squirrels. We have so many now! More than were here in Mom’s day. They chase each other over the lawn.

One…

Hi, Shannon!

Back at campus, and it feels so good!

Can I keep writing you, even though I’ll be seeing you every day, or nearly?

See, I just got into the habit of it, and it feels good. I mean, talking is one thing–and it’s great, especially when you tell me stories. And writing, it scratches a whole nother itch.

I hope you write me, too. I love your letters, even when they’re just one word…

Hiya, Shan!

So I had a lot of time to think.

One thing, I decided that I wanted us to adopt Stray Cat and get her settled in before I return to school.

I figured it should happen any day now, since we’ve become BFFs already!

Then, of course, there was talking with Riley and making sure she was OK with me leaving again.

I finally had a chance to talk with her late one night after the kids were…