But today I receive one that is so personal and heartfelt, my eyes water as I read it.
Shayla is a young girl who lives in Florida and is a rising high-school senior. She is also hard-working (number 2 in a class of over 600), unassuming, delightful, conscientious, sweet, appreciative, and absolutely lovely. I can't find enough superlatives to describe this girl whom I've never met; she's a friend of the family and I am helping her with the daunting process of college applications, selection, and essays. She is unlike any 17-year-old I've ever known.
We've been working together since October.
Recently Shayla emails me,
I'd really like to send you a handwritten thank you letter. If you feel uncomfortable giving me your address I completely understand but I thought it would be more meaningful through traditional mail rather than email.
That's how thoughtful she is. I know so much about her life through the essays she's been writing, and she asks me if giving her my address would make me uncomfortable.
I write back,
What possible reason would I have to not give you my address? Of course you can have it.
And then by mistake I give her my old zip code (that changed in 2007) which resulted in her having to go to the post office twice.
Today I come home from not-seeing The King and I. (I arrive at the theater to find out that Kelli O'Hara, the star and recent Tony winner, is out sick and won't be performing. I switch my ticket for one in August).
Alexander has left the mail on the table, and I see a small package. I open it and there is a handwritten note (in exquisite penmanship) from Shayla, along with a gift of my most favorite (and utterly extravagant) moisturizer. I am certain this has never come up in conversation, but maybe Shayla intuited that I love La Mer. Even that would not surprise me about this girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment